danon

"I spoke English treated like a queen. My cousin spoke Spanish and was not only ignored, but dismissed to talk to me!"

I have no idea what kind of restaurants people frequent that would treat English spears " like a queen" . How would they know the person in American ( supposedly a big tipper) and not
Hungarian, Danish or Canadian.

I speak Spanish in Barcelona (and the rest of the country ) and have never been dismissed in any way.
A couple of times I told taxi drivers in Barcelona I did not speak Catalan....turned out they were either from
South America or Andalusia...!

Cowboy1968

I'm not sure I get your point.

AFAIK, tipping "like crazy" is not the norm in Spain - regardless of region or province. Why would you say that Spaniards are "worse tippers" when in fact they just do what is the usual custom?

Since you are able to understand enough Catalan to overhear that one customer got a 50% discount while you were offered only a 30% discount, why didn't you complain?
Even I can understand the difference of 30 and 50 in Castilian and Catalan...
And when you are fluent in Castilian or even like a native speaker, it's not exactly hard to remember the few phrases in Catalan you need in a shop or restaurant. After all, the languages are very similar, compared with other Romance languages.

I would find your stories easier to believe if you had been traveling in Southern Catalunya where you can find a certain "Catalan only" attitude and Castilian words sprayed over on official signs etc.
But in Barcelona you have so many employees in the hospitality industries, people working in shops or as taxi drivers who come from other parts of Spain that it's more miss than hit if you try to practice Catalan.
And - Barcelona is also a popular domestic destination for Spaniards from outside Catalunya. And I doubt that they would all go there just to be treated like sh*t.

blamona

I can only speak of my experiences, you have others.

These are my recent experiences. And yes they knew American (as opposed to Canadian) because we had a conversation.

I can't explain it, but for me Catalan is extremely hard to understand. I don't find it like Spanish at all. I even brought back a placemat from a bar with pictures and still had a tough time.

I tried to complain about the extra discount. She wouldn't budge so I just didn't buy in the end.

I'm glad someone loves a place enough to defend it. I love Spain with all my heart. That doesn't mean I have to love everything about Spain. I don't expect you all to love every place I'm obsessed with.

I was just trying to answer a post about not getting the Barcelona love with my experiences.

danon

"experiences. And yes they knew American (as opposed to Canadian) because we had a conversation. "

Gee, you must have run into some language experts working as waiters.

IMDonehere

I can't explain it, but for me Catalan is extremely hard to understand. I don't find it like Spanish at all.
________________________
I can explain as can millions of others. Catalan is an Occitan language also called Provençal. It is not a dialect of Castilian.

This is another case of blaming others what you do not know.

Cowboy1968

blamona,

Don't get me wrong: I do not defend Barcelona.
You have, of course, every right to dislike Barcelona.

I had just been irritated by the examples.

kimhe

<It is not a dialect of Castilian> That's true, but very similar to Castillian, most Spanish speakers will have small problems reading a Catalan newspaper.

Barcelona es una ciudad de otro mundo con miles de aspectos para descubrir

Barcelona és una ciutat d'un altre món amb milers d'aspectes per descobrir

Whathello

Actually speaking Walloon helps you understand Catalan.
But is no use for Castillan.

(glad we ended up tgalking about something remotely interesting in this thread).

blamona

The waiter asked where we were from--really? Do I have to spell it out? They all figured out my Spanish accent is Basque when I spoke Spanish. Most speak English and know the difference with British accents anyway (and Canadians tip too) As for the Spanish not tipping, of course I know they don't tip, as most of Europe. I'm extremely well traveled, don't think I really have to defend that.

Catalanes don't pronounce everything, similar to French, where Castilian for most part pronounces as it reads, when speaking a normal speed, (they didn't speak slowly for me) it's hard to pick up, I just get words here and there. Is that so hard to understand?

What's wrong with my examples? They were my experiences, and it lead to not being crazy about Barcelona (which is ironic because I loved it 25 years ago) why is giving examples a bad thing? (instead of general statements with nothing to back up?)

I get it, you love it. I'm trying to explain with examples why I didn't. I actually love Costa Brava (which is Catalan) but for me these examples happened in Barcelona. They left a bad taste in my mouth, and they left a bad taste with my Castilian speaking cousins who don't speak Catalan.

I don't care what you guys think, I'm writing on a post that seemed to have similar experience than I, so I wrote saying it's not impossible to not be crazy for Barcelona.

I'm actually going to write a trip report soon, and it will cover what I love, with no negatives.

But I found this post to be specific to similar experiences I had last week.

Personally I was shocked at how I loved it 25 years ago, and changed my mind. It's possible I change it again, as I have family to visit.

But for now, my experiences didn't give me a cozy Barcelona welcome, and I stand by my thoughts.

On a different note, in these scary times, I'm surprised we didn't have to go through customs in Barcelona. I realize too with EEUU that crossing countries is no biggie. In light of terrorism as close to France (driving into France you'd never know you're changing countries) I'd at least have some police hanging out at the borders just checking.

I will post my glowing last trip on a separate post, but for now, it's not cool to discredit my experiences with Barcelona here (and cut me down personally for them implying I'm stupid for having them, while no one called me that, you're questioning me about having legit experiences)

Whathello

Cool Blamona.

don't get bothered on this forum - snarkiness is a way of life here.

This thread is one of the worst : thread about 'I don't like' always turn into this. And they bring nothing.

And yes you're entitled to your opinion, and yes you do seem to have been there, and yes I can very well imagine this attitude from Catalans towards Spaniards, as some stupid Flamingants will react the same in Belgium towards people who speak French.
Separatists are like that, they just refuse anything that is not their 'culture'. In Belgium it is a small percentage, I don't know how many in Catalonia.

You have a beautiful daughter btw.

Cathinjoetown

Maybe the waiter was trying to be friendly by asking where you were from. I can't imagine taking umbrage at that.

Why not put negatives in your report if they were part of your experience?

I certainly stand by my comments directed at the OP. A tourist complaining that there were too many tourists is a ridiculous observation. Should they clear the city for one's visit?

Having an issue with people speaking English to you instead of their native language happens now in all large cities in Europe. I fail to understand how this could be cause for criticism.

danon

if you like Barcelona( or not) is irrelevant .

You said that you were treated " like a queen " because you spoke English.

The waiters in Barcelona ,so fluent in English as to be able to immediately
spot different accents -and act accordingly for tips from generous Americans-
are only to be admired.

IMDonehere

Catalanes don't pronounce everything, similar to French, where Castilian for most part pronounces as it reads, when speaking a normal speed, (they didn't speak slowly for me) it's hard to pick up, I just get words here and there. Is that so hard to understand?
_____________________________
In Extremadura and Andalusia, they do just that, drop the end of many words.


Still to blame for others for your lack of knowledge speaks more about you than the Catalans.

2016adventurer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biutiful.
While I love Barcelona, there are definitely a few different ways to see it. "Your mileage may vary."

Whathello

Todos locos aqui !

(correct ?)

IMDonehere

You need a verb.

Either

Estamos todos locos aquí.

or

Están todos locos aquí.


Depending on whether you want to include yourself or not.

blamona

yes correct! (but not for Catalan! ;-)

Knowledge:

3 months every year until I was 27 in Spain, kindergarden and first grade there too

Family in Barcelona, including a Catalan Separatist

Basque region accent speaking Spanish (I don't have any American accent speaking Spanish)

Been to 97 countries and counting, including many that don't believe in tipping, and many multiple times

Wrote guidebooks for Fodor's for 10 years, (Travel writer, imagine that! Did Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Virginia) and have published Spanish pictures with them too in their guidebooks

Been on Fodor's forums since 2005 (thanks for my daughter's compliment, she's much older now!)

Destination Expert on T&C for 12 years on Tripadvisor

So I'm all too familiar with snarky, and those users are a dime a dozen

If everyone agreed 100% of the time 100% of the places, forums would be no fun, no one would know how to pick a place (narrow it down) If we all had good experiences then why ask questions when traveling or post experiences?

Catalan Separatists do show rudeness and prejudice to Castilian Spaniards, been going on as long as I remember.

And if everyone loved 100% of countries, then why would Catalanes need to be separatists? Everyone would just feel the love

Happy Travels to all---

blamona

PS. Reminds me of Miami airport the way Catalans can be:

Ask an agent at the airport a question in Spanish, they answer in English, "we don't speak Spanish"

So you ask the same agent the same question in English and they say, "no hablamos inglés!"


True story, every time

frencharmoire

I am surprised some people keep repeating "these threads bring nothing". I find reading a vareity of experiences about a destination very interesting and helpful, especially since so many people are speaking from direct knowledge of Barcelona (or other places).

If someone asked me "Do you think Barcelona is overrated?:, I admit I'd need to think a bit before answering. As travel destinations go -- in my experience and preferences -- I actually do think Barcelona might be overrated. But for many travelers looking for a certain kind of fun? Barcelona is probably just what they are looking for!

Whathello

Take every city.
Will make some threads.

Next :

Is Charleroi, Belgium underrated ?