Generally speaking, Spanish people are easygoing, extroverted, fun and love to eat but what are the unspoken rules that everyone follows but no one could explain?

Unlocking the Spaniards: 7 Fascinating insights to understand Spanish People

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Unlocking the Spaniards: 7 Fascinating insights to understand Spanish People

1. Spaniards are loud, but we do not consider it shouting.

If you overhear a random conversation among Spanish people, you might think there is a fight happening, but watch again because it is not uncommon to raise your voice during a friendly conversation.

If during a conversation a Spaniard feels you haven’t heard them or haven’t agreed with them, they will say it once again, just louder.

This might also be the case while talking to a foreigner. If you did not understand what we just said, we might just repeat it louder.

2. Complaining is our national sport.

Spaniards just love it. As a Spanish person, our favorite topics to complain about include our boss, lazy colleagues, taxes, how expensive electricity is, how funcionarios are always on a break, and brothers-in-law thinking they know best.

Say something about any of the things above, and you will have a Spaniard complaining for at least 10 minutes.

3. But we do not allow anyone else to complain about our things.

Spaniards love complaining, but we will not take someone else’s complaint about anything we feel is ours.

Remember the know-it-all brother-in-law? If anyone else dares say anything offensive about him, we will defend him until the very end because he is annoying but also family.

4. We have no respect for turns when speaking.

Probably the most annoying thing about Spaniards. If you are learning the language and find yourself in a group with Spanish people, you will have to really focus on your listening skills, as many different conversations might be happening at the same table, and no one will respect their turn to speak.

Everyone gets excited and wants to say something, and, as a result, things might escalate, and people will keep talking louder and louder just to be heard.

5. We are proud of our food.

We think our food is the best in the world, and you cannot make us change our mind. And if you dare trying, you will be forced to try our abuela’s recipes until you change your mind and agree that Spanish food is the best ever.

6. Siesta is survival.

We might have a reputation for being lazy because we nap, but we dare you to spend a summer in the south of Spain, when it is over 40°C out, and do not rest after lunch.

Your blood pressure is as low as it gets during the summer, and a laydown after lunch is pretty much all you can do until it cools down.

7. We take pride in cleaning.

Keeping things clean is quite an obsession, especially for the older generation of Spanish women.

If you have been in Spain long enough, you might have witnessed people even mopping the area of the street directly in front of their stores or houses in a clearly losing battle against dirt.

It is also not unheard of for people who have help in the house to do a light clean just before the helper arrives so the house is not shamefully dirty.