My wife, 14 year old daughter, and myself will be enjoying 9 days in Spain in 2006. We will be in Madrid for 5 days (day trips to Segovia and Toledo), Sevilla (3 days) and a day trip to Granada. We were wondering about our daughter in the tapas bars. We have not seen any threads that mention whether there are teenagers in these bars or whether we would need to find a cafe or restaurant to sit down in. Is it fine to have a teenager in the tapas bars? Thanks

As long as she likes wine and tapas, she'll have a blast. It's europe man, not to worry about 14 year olds in bars, just make sure she doesn't get drunk and the bar is not in England.

(serious answer: don't worry, it's like a restaurant, where you stand while eating, drink some wine, eat some tapas, together with the locals (hopefully). Just like you do at home, assuming you take your family out for dinner).

Not to worry about that, specially in Spain. You may actually be a bit shocked of how late and how young do many Spaniards bring their kids to bars in Spain, specially Madrid. I spent some time in Segovia and it was nothing to see kids in bars at 11pm. The funny thing is that you do not get a sense for a minte that this is an issue of neglect as much as family time (Spain does not have any more any less problems with alcoholism than more prudish countries, i.e. USA). Cultural differences are such eye openers sometimes....

Yes, lots of people bring children into tapas bars, mainly because they are just restuarants as well. They aren't really what we think of as a "bar" here in the US. Many of them have tables to sit at, some don't, but either way, it won't be a problem. Just order her a soda (Fanta Limon is my favorite in Spain) and enjoy the food.

I was just there in October, and if you want to see my 10 day trip, the first 6 days are online on my website;
http://www.wired2theworld.com.
We ate many of our meals in tapas bars and it was fantastic!

Thanks for your replies. Rockfella, I mentioned to her that maybe she could have a little wine in Spain. It didn't impress her. Now if I can just keep that up for another 6 years. LOL (dreamer, I know). Viajero2, I'm going to have to practice sleeping during the day so that I can stay up past 11:00. Kristina, my wife and I have both enjoyed your trip review, both here and on your website (waiting for pages 7,8,and 9). She said that she loves when someone says that they are a control freak. She also loves the idea of having your own booklet that you put together for all of the areas that you were visiting. Only with a twist, she wants each of us to have our own. heehee. We will see.

When you get home and tell all of your friends of your adventures in tapa bars, be sure to annunciate the word "tapas." When I returned from Spain and talked about all of the tapas bars I went to, everyone thought I was saying "topless." They found this quite shocking, as I am a middle-aged married woman.

P M-Yes! I had the same problem too, when showing photos to coworkers! They tought I was saying "topless"!

vcrew-glad you enjoyed my trip report. Hope to get day 7 posted tonight!

Hi,

itīs not normal to offer wine to 14 year olds in the bars in Spain. When you are out with the family, the preferred drink is usually Coke (very often Coke light), some kind of lemonade ( Fanta in the south, Kas in the north, I prefer this one because itīs less sweet) or maybe mosto. Mosto is grape juice, served with an olive or a marraschino, and it can be a nice option for her instead of wine. You could also offer her a small beer, specially before lunch when having something small to eat. A "clara" (beer with lemonade) can be very refreshing.

You wonīt have a problem at all with her, and in fact you will see younger children around. I draw a line at people bringing very young babies into bars, even very late at night ( 2, 3 in the morning). I have friends, and I donīt think it is because they want to enjoy their child so much ...

Viajero2, the alcoholism problem among teenagers in Spain is one of the greatest worries right now. You might not be aware of it, and I donīt think vcrew will have any problem with it (in order to "suffer" it the kid must be part of a group and have his/her friends in Spain), but it is quite usual, specially on Friday and Saturday nights, to see groups of teenagers, some of them as young as 12 year old, getting together to drink in parks and getting regularly drunk. It doesnīt matter if we are talking boys or girls, no difference at all. We took the holier-than-thou approach, we are better than the Brits and so on ... and things are going really bad.

Rgds, Cova