How Are Mexicans Treated in Spain?

Uh, how are Americans treated in Britain, according to thou?

(I can't wait to hear this.)

I lived in London in my 30s and we were all viewed as brash, arrogant and stupid.

¡That’s just how we treat Americans!

Seems fair enough, R2/OP

So, OP, you think Mexicans are brash, arrogant and stupid? The British definitely got one of the three correct when it comes to you.

R5 Op never said he thought that. He never said it.

Mexicans in Spain? I know several who live here and they are treated well. Spanish people are generally curious and accepting of people from different places, and very good at treating people on their own merits rather than stereotypes.

The "negative" reactions I've seen usually stem from a perception of the part of Spanish that Mexicans (and Latin Americans) are overly polite in their language; while Latin Americans can be surprised by the directness of Spanish and their use of language.

^^^Unlike the British

Like Palestinians in Haifa.

I just read again today that if you hail from a Latin American country, Puerto Rico, or the Philippines, you can move to Spain, live there two years, and become a Spanish citizen.

If you're a Latino of any origin hanging out here on DL, just know that there's an easy way to GTFOH if/when the shit hits the fan.

This is a public service announcement.

[quote]Uh, how are Americans treated in Britain, according to thou?

It's "thee," flea.

My ancestors are from Spain and I am treated well there. Of course, I'm extremely good looking so that helps!

R12 so you white white?

I’ve had friends of Mexican or other Latin American descent, with flawless Spanish, tell me that when they visited Spain, people there could tell immediately they were not from Spain

R14 why is that surprising. British people with excellent command of the English language coming to America would seem unAmerican or even Canadians since their accents are more similar to us.

Most Spanish spoken in Spain uses theta for Z and some S sounds. Nobody outside of Spain does this, so it’s easy to discern. And there are plenty of lexical differences as well. My ex is Mexican and we traveled extensively in Spain over the years. Nobody was condescending or racist, and everybody understood his Spanish, but they always pegged him as Mexican as soon as he started talking.

In my experience, Spaniards are not racist per se, but they really dislike Romanians and Bulgarians who seem to overrun their cities.

There is concept of Hispanidad in Spain that is very popular and promoted by nearly all the political parties - which is that Spanish speakers across the world share not only a common language but also a culture and values.

It is also, of course, political because it positions the Spanish colonization of the Americas as uniformly positive, bringing them culture, language, religion, civilization etc. It also places Spain as the de facto leader of Spanish-speaking countries, even though Mexico is much more populous (and Colombia has more people as well) and it's trade relationship with Latin America is negligible.

So, yes, Mexicans (and most Spanish-speakers from Latin America) are treated fairly well in Spain. This has become even more true beacuse of how unpopular all the recent migrants from Africa, particularly Morroco, are in the country. Spain happily accepts most Latin Americans when the other option has been Africans or Muslim migrants.

R17 It’s funny. I’m black American but I never knew think of Spain as part of “Hispanidad” or any type of interional Spanish or Latin diaspora. I always think of it as a European country first where the people speak Spanish. Even thinking about white South Americans. I think of Portugal of having more of connection to Spanish culture than Spain. And I know that’s probably ignorant.

[quote] I lived in London in my 30s and we were all viewed as brash, arrogant and stupid.

That’s just how Londoners regard people who are not from London.

r7 - I was going to say.

Mexican are famous for their politeness. As a Cuban, I know Cubans are annoyed by it. You think Spaniards are direct. Cubans have no filter. And compared to other Spanish-speaking they are loud, pushy, and direct to the point of being obnoxious.

[quote]I’ve had friends of Mexican or other Latin American descent, with flawless Spanish, tell me that when they visited Spain, people there could tell immediately they were not from Spain

Of course. "Flawless" Spanish from a Mexican, or an Argentinian, or a Colombian sounds different from Castilian (Peninsular Spain) Spanish. It's revealed quickly because greetings and the ways of asking questions, for example, are different in grammar and accent. People from the Canarias sound different from people from Peninsular Spain (the way people from Yorkshire sound different from people from Essex).

People from Spain very often comment on variations of accents and speech and vocabulary from within Spain, from within the next province or city or from one pueblo to another. Of course they notice the different grammar and relative politeness of speech and accent from Mexico.

I'm not a native or "faultless" speaker of Spanish but I can distinguish an accent and manner of speech from Spain or Mexico or Argentina, or tell where another non-native Spanish speaker learned to speak Spanish. It's simple observation.

I swear some people are slow. There are articulate and well spoken southerners. They sound different from someone from the mid Atlantic or New England even though they are all speaking the same language. It’s amazing how an unknown culture makes people have tunnel vision when it comes to thinking or like common sense.

R11, I was mocking his highness OP.

I think Spanish sounds quite beautiful, much more so than French but not as beautiful as Italian.

'Mexicans' are indigenous people of the Americas. They have very little Spanish DNA, if any. They are the same as American 'Indians'.

R25 has a very distorted view of what a "Mexican" is.

A Mexican is a citizen of the Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

Mierda estúpida.

They are not the same. LOL.

Your arrow didn’t come anywhere close to the target—it’s off in a bush somewhere.

R27 may or may not be right (We're not mind-readers here), but she's the kind of person who posts and posts and posts on a thread until all the air is gone.

As far as how Mexicans are treated in Spain, my understanding is that, compared to British tourists, they're considered wonderful visitors and welcomed with relief.

I've never been to me.

My parents were from Spain and English was my second language. Spaniards "tutean" even with older people ("Usted" is used for the elderly), so I grew up with the habit of using the informal. At the age of 30, I started working in a service field with a lot of Mexican clients so I had to learn a whole new habit of addressing people and it was hard. I flubbed up a lot and corrected myself, but everyone was delighted that I tried and said it was fine to use "tu."

Fast forward a few years and I'm visiting relatives in Spain and I have the reverse problem. At one point a cousin mentioned "'Usted' es un poco frio." when I fell into using it. I explained why and that it was hard to switch gears.

I didn't know that about Cubans, r20. I'm on the west coast so my exposure was limited to my babysitter decades ago. She and her husband were sweethearts.

Cuban or PR or Dominican Spanish was a rare thing when I was growing up in LA in the 70s.

Mexican Spanish was all-encompassing 24-7. Until I took a Spanish class at Berkeley and the instructor tried to force me into Castilian mode. Too funny…it didn’t work. 🤷🏻‍♂️

French is my second language and I found it almost easy to pick up Caribbean and Mexican Spanish.

Had a rougher time in Spain.

Pray thee tell. What is Carib Spanish?!

Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

Jesus, r31, why would a California (or any US based) instructor try to force a Castillian accent? It's muddy and harder to understand and it takes the ears adjustment time. That's just fucking stupid. There's a reason why Colombian Spanish is the "broadcast standard" in the U.S. (at least it was decades ago); it's crisp and easy to understand.

Those are three very different dialects

R35 she was a new Ph.D student from Madrid. I survived. ;)

And all easier me to follow than anyone in Spain r36.

My friend from Bilbao told me that Argentinian Spanish is closest to the original Spanish that was spoken before the Castilian affect, and for some reason people from Spain don't like it sounds.

American English is supposed to be similar to what British English sounded like centuries ago.

Argentine Spanish differs in intonation and pronunciation, chiefly in:

--something like a "sh" sound for "ll" and "y"

--"seseo" aspiration of the "s" sound, as in "c" (before "e" or "i") and "z"

--"voseo" the Argentine use of "vos" in place of "tú" in Castilian (the same thing occurs in a few other countries)

I have Spanish friends who complain that they have a difficult time understanding Argentine Spanish but the differences are so few that it seems easy enough to catch on quickly. It's more the problem of not listening more than the inability to comprehend.

grammar (the use of "voseo" instead of "tuteo"), and vocabulary (distinct slang and words)

I stick to my Mexican Spanish from 9th-11th grade at a mediocre high school in the South Bay.

I’ve never had a problem from the Yucatán to Patagonia, from Bilbao to CadĪz. All have been very forgiving.

r40, make that Southern dialect of American.

P.S. That is why Brits can do a Southern accent so well.

“When I came to Spain, and I saw people partying, I say to myself what the fuck…”

¿Qué? ^

R43 did your Pa learn American good?

Oy gevalt.

[quote]There's a reason why Colombian Spanish is the "broadcast standard" in the U.S.; it's crisp and easy to understand.

Thanks for saying that, R30. I agree.

Back when I was teaching at a central Florida community college, virtually all my students were some kind of Hispanic (except for the Brazilians), and in my experience, the Colombian kids' Spanish was the easiest to understand.

The Puerto Rican (especially the Newyorican) Spanish accent is the worst, and every other Spanish-speaking person I ever talked to agreed with that, even the Puerto Ricans.

The funny thing is, I am constantly getting complimented on my Spanish even though my vocabulary is shit and I couldn't conjugate a verb if my life depended on it. But they tell me my accent is perfect and they can understand every word I say.

I guess that's the highest standard for an American.

That’s what I get—extra credit for a clean accent. But then I had realize that’s only in comparison to the usual Morons they hear from every day….its a low bar (but I’ll take it).

My only fluency in Spanish is reciting the Spanish-language print ads from the NYC subway system by memory. (There were ads from the 1980s - lots of long, boring subway commutes)

Por ejemplo:

"Estoy sentada doce horas al dia. Lo ultimo que necesito son hemorrhoides. Preparacion H - alivia dolores y inchazon".

But my accent and delivery are impeccable according to Spanish-speaking friends.