A quick introduction first. I spent a couple of semesters in Spain, primarily in Madrid, back in 1985-86. I've been looking forward to returning for so many years.
My wife and I are scheduled to spend the first 11 days of May vacationing in Spain.
Perhaps I'm being naive, but I'm not so worried about terrorism with the trip. But, I'm wondering what the level of anti-American sentiment is these days. Does it affect those Americans (or Brits, I suppose) living in or visiting Spain?
When I was there, anti-Americanism was fairly prevalent. I was occassionally confronted or insulted - and even watched a bar full of Spaniards clap and cheer when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded.
Taking this much time off, spending as much as I will and such - I want to be somewhere where I don't feel uncomfortable based on my nationality. I have the chance to reschedule this trip at no charge and am wondering if I should come in a couple (or more) months with the hopes that things cool off a bit.
Any thoughts? Experiences in the last couple weeks? Advice?
Many thanks,
Jim
Posts: 2 | Location: Portland, Oregon USA | Registered: 08 April 2003
As far as I have seen, there is no anti-american sentiment, eventhough people in spain are against the war in Iraq. As long as you just come here to have a good time, i am certain that people will treat you really nice.
hope this makes you feel a bit better, serge
ps. the only americans that are not really liked are the ones who tend to tell europeans that if it wasn't for the USA they would all be speaking german. and to be honest, these kind of comments are 'una falta de respect'
Hi Jim, as I mentioned to you via e-mial, check out the other threads on this topic on the board by doing a search.
I just found one that I did not mention to you in my e-mail yesterday... CLICK HERE. It is entitled "Anti-American feelings because of NY world Trade Bombing" which would apply to this case as well.
As for...
quote:
"I was occassionally confronted or insulted - and even watched a bar full of Spaniards clap and cheer when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded."
There will always be ignorant and idiotic people ALL over the world. That shuttle experience was unfortunate but I do not think it is the norm.
In short, I agree with serge and would encourage you to come on over
Serge wrote...
quote:
the only americans that are not really liked are the ones who tend to tell europeans that if it wasn't for the USA they would all be speaking german. and to be honest, these kind of comments are 'una falta de respect'
Irene and I were in Spain when the war started, and although there is obviously much opposition to the US Government's position and actions, we were never treated with disrespect. The Spanish love visitors who are truly interested in them and their culture.
I agree with Serge and Jer, don't change your plans to come to Spain. You won't regret it!
"An honest man is always a child" - Socrates ...no wonder I'm so immature!
I agree that people who think differentiate between ordinary people and the governments which purport to represent them. When I first visited Spain, Francisco Franco was in power, but it was easy to see that "his" people were not a bunch of fascists.
Pack light, sleep cheap, eat well.
Posts: 479 | Location: ROCKFORD,MI, USA | Registered: 23 May 2001
I was also in Spain just as the war was starting. I felt a total of zero anti-americanism. Yes, there was a lot of anti-war and anti-Bush sentiment. But never did I feel uncomfortable with any of it.
One funny thing that happened: I was at Atocha buying tickets to Sevilla and the computer was moving really slowly and taking a lot longer than it should to get our tickets. The guy working there oviously knew we were Americans because he said, laughing, that it must be Saddam Hussein's fault. I liked that sense of humor about it.
Anne
Remember, you can't see everything in one trip. Assume you will return. (Rick Steves)
Posts: 143 | Location: Green Bay, WI USA | Registered: 16 April 2002
Sunday's El Pais had an interesting article on Iraqis and Americans in Spain - apparently there are 700 Iraqis and 14000 US citizens in Spain.
Apparently the US embassy advises that visitors shouldn't go around announcing the fact that they're from the US in a big way, should avoid talking about the war and should avoid anti-war demonstrations.
The article also said that New York University have taken down the sign outside their Madrid base "just in case".
Despite all the above(!), don't be put off from coming to Madrid - certainly as a Brit in Madrid I haven't had any problems
(That said, I did see some "Yankees go home" grafitti in Calle de Alcala this afternoon, though as others have said the anger is really directed at Bush and Aznar, and to a lesser extent Blair)
Posts: 21 | Location: Madrid, of course! | Registered: 10 October 2002
hey jim and wife, definately do come here and don't fear anti-americanism. as an american, what i have noticed mostly is anti-bushism and anti-aznarism. there is also a fair share of "yankee go home" graffiti as well as lots of graffiti calls for boycotts of american products. however, i have never felt threatened or disliked. people understand the difference between american policy and american people. also, in general, most folks are aware that bush actually lost the presidential election. spaniards mention this to me all the time, so there is a strong awareness that not all americans are for bush and the war.
that said, do be smart. like serge mentioned, only an idiot would make some comment about america saving the spaniards from germany. anti-war sentiment here is very very high and if you in any way support the war or even don't oppose it, it is probably best to keep that opinion to yourself while here.
spaniards are wonderful, warm people and if you come with an open mind and respectful heart, you will have the time of your life.
Candela
Posts: 1001 | Location: MADRID! | Registered: 09 November 2002
I am interested in the anti-war feeling here in Spain but feel that my Spanish is not really up to understanding all the issues surrounding it.
What I want to know is; would the Spanish be as against the war if the Spanish government had stayed out of it completely ?
The few Spanish friends I have talked to about the war have usually concluded that they disagree with Spain's involvement because they don't have an argument with the Iraquis and they don't see what is in it for them ....... (I should point out that this is a really small number of people and they are from a very particular background/age group.)
So what, in general, do you guys who are resident in Spain think sums up the real reason for the anti-war sentiment here ?
Fiona
Posts: 16 | Location: Cambridge, England | Registered: 13 November 2001
Basicly the general sentiment is no against the war, with or without spain's involvement. Eventhough nobody likes Saddam, almost everybody agrees on the fact that there could have been a peacefull resolution. On top of this Aznar decided to join in with Bush and all hell broke loose. imagine being against a war and then have your democraticly elected gov. do what about 90% of the country doesn't want. This also could have consecuences for spain in the future, for example; we have been receiving a lot of help from france in fighting ETA. now Aznar has gone and f***ed up our good relations with them. And if France decides not to offer the same help as before, ETA will have a lot of opportunity to grow and reinforce itself. and like this there are many more examples, so imagine.
Has most of this cleared up? I've been in Korea throughout the IRaq War period of time. It was horrible to be an American back in April pretty much through the summer. The Koreans weren't nearly as bad as the other non-American foreigners.
However now I feel kind of a swing-around on it. People here in Korea are learning that not every single American is Republican, pro-War and all the rest.
Wondering if thats kind of universal and the more extreme anti-american sentiment has kind of worn away there as well?
Posts: 19 | Location: Seoul, Korea | Registered: 29 December 2003
I stayed at the Suecia in November and saw the same grafitti on Alcala...it appeared as though they made an attempt at cleaning it off, though.
Most of the wall postings seemed to be "No a guerra", and "No a immagracion". I found that just by trying Spanish in Madrid 99.9% of the folks were more than willing to a)give me directions or, b)help with the proper pronunciation. The other .1% consisted of cabbies.
Thyglow
In Madrid All Things Are Possible...Except Skiiing Through The Revolving Door At The Ritz
- rent or buy a cell phone from me for your stay in spain, more info at 
- already have a cell phone, get a spanish SIM card for it at 
