As a Filipino traveler, Spain spells deeper impact to me given the historical link between the Philippines and Spain. Traveling Spain makes me understand better my country's past, not to mention that several places in Spain remind me much of the old side of the Philippines, of Intramuros, Ilocos Norte, and the like.
Nevertheless, not everything in Spain hits home to me. There are those Spanish traditions and habits that surprised me after experiencing them firsthand. I’ve listed some of them, explaining likewise as to how they’re different from the way I'm used to as a Filipina and Asian traveler.
Everything starts late
Think of 7AM as a ghost town in Spain. If there’d be someone on the street, it would probably some guy with a bad hangover from last night’s party. One thing's for sure: The early bird that catches the worm is definitely not from Spain.The Spaniards love to take their time. Spain is best defined for its lazy times. If you're traveling Spain, the fact that everything starts late could be treated badly, but most likely you won't--as the slow mornings are golden times that you can only experience in this country.
This is why it shocked me at first since it's in contrast with my usual travels in Asia. I’m so used to starting as early as possible (say, at 7AM). I do so because one, it's a rule of thumb to be early to avoid the swarm of tourists and two, it's my way to cover as many places as possible in a day.
The first time I went to Spain, I once got up way too early to look for a breakfast place. However, I ended up a grumpy and hungry for hours after not finding any open restaurant or bakery at 7AM. With that lesson learned, that same night, I hoarded and stacked food for next day's breakfast (and for the next ones too!).
It's also worth mentioning that most tourist attractions in Spain do not open earlier than 9AM. This includes museums, parks, and even government buildings. On the other hand, what’s good is that these attractions have nighttime and extended operating hours, especially during summer (that runs July-September) where the days are long in Spain.
...Even meal times are late
Meal time in Spain is as late as you could ever think of. While breakfast starts at 7AM in the Philippines (or earlier), el desayuno (the breakfast) in Spain is stretched until 9AM or later. You do not expect a lot of restaurants or supermarkets to open before 9AM but if you’re lucky enough, the earliest would probably a panaderia (bread shop) at 8AM.Fun fact: Speaking of panaderia, if you’re a Filipino, you’ve probably eaten a Spanish bread or simply know what it is. A Spanish bread is that sweet, rolled bread sold in local bread shops in the Philippines, which sits along with pan de sal, pan de coco, and ensaymada. Because of its name, I assumed it originated in Spain. However, after visiting several cities in Spain and barging through every bakery, I realized that Spanish bread in Spain is just an urban legend. There's no Spanish bread in Spain! It’s like Vienna sausage and french fries where the name doesn’t live up to the existence in that place!
Aside from breakfast, lunch time is as late as 2-3PM and dinner is at 9-10PM in Spain. Thinking of a reason why, I noticed that most Spaniards live by the night as they’re nocturnal. When traveling Spain, it’s no excuse to be a sleepy Asian at 10PM because that’s only when the party gets started! And as they say there, they go out and party hasta las tantas (until the wee hours)!
Rice isn't life in Spain, but yeah it exists
For Asians, rice is life as it's staple food and part of every meal. Most especially for the Filipinos, rice is usually eaten 3 times a day.Even if rice is well-known in Spain, thanks to paella, it’s unlikely to eat it all the time, neither to have it for breakfast. In Spain, people don’t usually eat rice very early, so don’t expect paella to be on the menu at breakfast. They’d probably eat pan con tomate (bread with tomato spread - yes, tomato! And it’s healthy delicious!) with coffee. The Spaniards tend to eat more at lunch and dinner, heavily relying on meat as their main source of energy.
Nowadays though, due to the influx of Asian migrants in Spain, there have been a number of Asian restaurants that serve rice meals. As I noticed, there are a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese across Spain and whenever I crave for rice close to how it’s cooked the Filipino way, Asian restaurants are my go-to places.
Liquor is an appetizer
If you don’t have high tolerance for alcohol, prepare to get drunk early in Spain. Unlike in Philippine culture where we start drinking after the meal, wine or beer gets served first before any meal in Spain. When you sit in a restaurant, surprisingly, they’d usually hand over the liquor menu to you first.In Catalonia region, for example, there’s this liquor called vermut (vermouth), which is a common alcohol-based appetizer before lunch time. It's said to trigger hunger, gives a huge appetite, and an aphrodisiac too. There are several types of vermut, usually classified between dry and sweet, and it highly resembles to a martini. What I was able to try in Barcelona is the sweet vermut, which had a sweet-bitter taste, accompanied by a slice of lemon in it and green olives on the side.
There are also Filipino drinking traditions that are unacceptable in Spain. Things like: there’s no chaser, there's no ice cube at all (it's a no no for them to put ice in the liquor as they say it ruins the taste!), and on top of that, there's no way for them that San Miguel beer is Filipino! Yes, it's a highly contested debate, with the Spaniards of course claiming the company as theirs. And I tell you, don’t even get started with them about this because you'll never get the end of it. LOL.
Dos besos and kissing
In the Philippines, a meetup with friends, colleagues, or relatives usually begins with a smack on the cheek, or most likely just a damp of cheek-to-cheek if you aren’t that close with the person. Called a beso-beso, it’s a socializing Filipino habit but is usually done by women only. With such conservative culture in the Philippines, it’s unlikely that a guy and girl do this, unless they’re close friends, siblings, or a couple.In Spain, on the other hand, given its open-minded liberated culture, people can kiss each other there without any malice. During casual acquaintances, even if it’s the first time you meet a person regardless of gender, you usually give him/her dos besos (two kisses), which is a kiss on both cheeks. You have to remember that in Spain, the kiss is always done TWICE.
The way I see it, kissing is very casual in Spain. Just like other Europeans, the Spaniards treat a kiss with less to none value as compared to the Asians. When a guy kisses a girl (vice versa), it doesn’t right away mean the person has romantic feelings towards the other. This is why you have to remember that you must not right away fall in love IN Spain; you just have fall in love WITH Spain!
Though I have to mention that it’s very common to see people kissing (torridly!) and making out at public spaces across Spain--something that truly shookt me as a Filipina and an Asian at first, as it’s something that I don't often see when traveling Asia. It's also worth saying that Spain is LGBT-friendly, so it's common to see the LGBT community expressing themselves freely in this country.
Siesta time is for real
Siesta is a Spanish word that refers to an afternoon nap, which takes an hour or two, and is usually taken after eating lunch. After experiencing it firsthand in Spain, that’s when I was able to convince myself that siesta is a habit that we, Filipinos, truly got from the Spaniards. In Spain, a typical afternoon break time in Spain is 3 hours, usually from 2PM to 5PM. It's very different from lunch time in the Philippines, which is just limited from an hour to 1.5-hour break.I remember an afternoon in Granada when I saw a nice blouse by the glass of a local clothing store. When I was about to enter the store to hopefully to fit it, I realized that the store was closed because of siesta time. While they take siesta seriously, they kind of compensate by extending the hours at night as most jobs usually end by 8PM (or later) in Spain.
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