Spanish culture in small towns
Hola,
I spent three weeks in Sevilla last summer. It was great! But now I am curious about life in the smaller towns. What is it like there, compared to small towns in the United States? What do the kids like to do? What is family life like in smaller towns? Gracias!
4 Answers
I don't think so. yo have smaller elegant suburbs like this near big cities. but villages are different form that.
In places like that near Madrid, yes, children have bikes at first, then cars, as it is important to be able to move around. People have houses or expensive flats. Some areas do not even have shops, they are completely residencial. In those areas people do not have any contact to each other, possibly your next door neighbour....but that's all. the opposite happens in villages, everybody knows everybody.
Thanks for the reply. Interesting about the familiy that was told not to laugh for a year. I wouldn't last long.
I did visit Vejer, which is a smaller town near the Costa de la Luz. It was great. It seemed very similar to parts of Sevilla and Cordova, but on a smaller scale. I am wondering if there are places where, similar to suburbs in the US, families have their own individual houses, drive cars everywhere, etc. My daughter has been wondering about this for a year. Are there kids who live like her? It is always good to compare and contrast, for kids and for us as well.
Small towns in Spain are a different world sometimes. I have been to a few very small ones, and you can feel the taste of an old Spain that no longer exist out of those places. Family is everything, and the parents still tell their children how they should live their lives and everything. What I'm saying here, of course, are my personal impressions.
Bear in mind that bigger villages are nearly like cities, and they live in the 21th century, with all the Play Stations and the gadgets, and following the MTV (or whatever). There are villages in Spain bigger than small cities and towns, so the name doens't mean a lot. If the place is big enough, or close or well connected to a reasonably big place, it is not that different from the rest of the cities. Of course, much bigger cities are more stressful and hectic.
But I am talking small villages. I have witnessed how the family of someone I know imposed some sort of mourning to everyone in it, because one of the grandmothers died, so women should dress in black at all times, and no one should laugh for a whole year. Yes, I mean it. I tried not to be disrespectful, but I found it hard to contain my laugh sometimes; everyone pretending to be so serious...
I don't know what is like in small towns in the States, but in Spain they all know each other, there are no secrets, they normally go to church a lot more than in big cities, and they eat a lot of what they produce in the area, rather than going to bigger supermarkets. They still make themselves things that no one else would even know where they come from or how they are made (e.g. chorizo), and they have a stronger sense of community. Men go to bars where few women go to (specially alone), and older men like to play cards, domino and chess. To me, it is a bit boring, though.
In Sevilla!!! Nice place, let me see if I find somebody from there!!
I live in Madrid....
