Barcelona - Friendly city or reclusive clique?
Discussion
Why is it people talk about a town or place saying “oh you have to live here for two or three years before you get to know it properly” like it’s some term of endearment or an asset?
Reading between the lines, personally, I would take that to mean it’s not a very friendly place to live.
An example is where I’m based at the moment – Barcelona. Great nightlife, good food, good weather, by the sea, a bit scruffy, crowded and overpriced but the thing I notice most about the place is the people seem to be the most introverted and unapproachable bunch I’ve come across. I’ve spoken to other ex-pats living here and they’ve reeled off the above mentioned cliché as if that’s a good thing. Personally it’s putting me right off the place.
Most of my mates think I’m talking bol**cks but, they’ve only been here for long weekends with their mates or partners so haven’t really had to go through the fitting in experience. The ex-pats I’ve spoken to over here just think “oh typical Brit – doesn’t like it if he can’t go down the Rose & Crown and have fish and chips and Eastenders every night”. But hat’s not the case either. Over the past three years I’ve lived in Brussels, Amsterdam and Malta so it’s not like I’m not well travelled (in Europe at least). Some Spanish have hinted that it’s a Catalonian thing.
Anyway I’m rambling. Point I wanted to make was Barcelona: great for a weekend on the pi**. Not a great place to live.
Reading between the lines, personally, I would take that to mean it’s not a very friendly place to live.
An example is where I’m based at the moment – Barcelona. Great nightlife, good food, good weather, by the sea, a bit scruffy, crowded and overpriced but the thing I notice most about the place is the people seem to be the most introverted and unapproachable bunch I’ve come across. I’ve spoken to other ex-pats living here and they’ve reeled off the above mentioned cliché as if that’s a good thing. Personally it’s putting me right off the place.
Most of my mates think I’m talking bol**cks but, they’ve only been here for long weekends with their mates or partners so haven’t really had to go through the fitting in experience. The ex-pats I’ve spoken to over here just think “oh typical Brit – doesn’t like it if he can’t go down the Rose & Crown and have fish and chips and Eastenders every night”. But hat’s not the case either. Over the past three years I’ve lived in Brussels, Amsterdam and Malta so it’s not like I’m not well travelled (in Europe at least). Some Spanish have hinted that it’s a Catalonian thing.
Anyway I’m rambling. Point I wanted to make was Barcelona: great for a weekend on the pi**. Not a great place to live.
The city dwellers can be a bit cold and unwelcoming, especially if your speaking the wrong type of Spanish.
I stay with friends about 20 miles north of Barcelona, just past Mataro, and the neighbours are very friendly to me, even though they only see me every other weekend, and I don't speak a word of the lingo.
I found Brussels to be worse though, as the city centre was full of ex-pats and people working for the European 'agencies' on the 'gravy train' who wanted to party all the time.
I stay with friends about 20 miles north of Barcelona, just past Mataro, and the neighbours are very friendly to me, even though they only see me every other weekend, and I don't speak a word of the lingo.
I found Brussels to be worse though, as the city centre was full of ex-pats and people working for the European 'agencies' on the 'gravy train' who wanted to party all the time.
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