Anti American hostility in Spain

Spent a few weeks last October and encountered no anti-American sentiments besides: "Bush - Booo!, Obamah - Yay!" Only piece of advice I can give you is to avoid the Gran Via in Madrid, especially in the evenings, and keep your bags in front of you on the metro...again in Madrid. Besides that, I LOVE Spain. You will, too.

Slashed tires on your car? The vandals knew that the parked car belonged to an American? Really?

None at all. All in all it is safe in Madrid. Far more dangerous in LA, Chicago, New York, Philly, DC, etc.. Gran Via is lively at night as is Plaza Mayor.

Edwin

We recently got back from two weeks in Spain and encountered no anti-American sentiment and no petty thievery. We avoided the streets/neighborhoods, RS advises to avoid and kept our wits about us in the other neighborhoods, and never felt threatened or in danger in any way.

The last time my car got broken into in front of my house I thought, damned anti-American hostility.

I don't think that pickpockets can really be counted as "anti-American" -- as they say, it's not personal, just business. If you've had your tires slashed, you have either failed to pay the junkie who "helped" you park, or he didn't like you personally, not politically. Just about the only vaguely anti-American sentiment I perceive here is the "talking head" TV commentators, many of whom still consider themselves card carrying members of the Communist Party, and for whom it is a point of honor to be anti-US, anti-NATO, etc. Pay them about as much attention as you feel that sort of thinking deserves. The average guy on the street will almost invariably be anti-Bush, but either neutral or openly admiring of the US. In any event, the Spanish are good at being friendly even to people of different ideologies -- they've had centuries of practice!

Perhaps the OP just rented the movie Barcelona:)
There's a joke to be made here about renting Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona instead, but I will bite my tongue.

Just came back to spending three weeks of pilgrimage and touring Spain. The locals are very friendly and hospitable, will go out of their way to help and provide assistance if asked. 'Por favor' is the magic word if you need any help or assistance. Buen Viaje!!!

Since hosting an exchange student from Madrid 6 years ago, we have had the good fortune of becoming extremely close to her entire family. We have gotten together in Spain 3 times, met in Venice and hosted them in our home in Oregon. In the fall we will meet them in NYC and next year in Barcelona. My exchange daughter and I email each other quite often, but her mother and I write each week. I have become fascinated this intensive, first hand view of how this Spanish family sees Americans. They absolutely love American culture. They have seen every Michael Moore and Woody Allen movie. They seem to almost know more about America than we do. Even though the mom is a busy physician, she diligently goes to English lessons twice a week. Speaking English there is a status symbol. They love the fact that they have such close American friends and have introduced us to all their family and friends. While they love America, they didn't love Bush and all of our politics. They think many Americans have a really hard life and that the poverty rates, especially among women are high. Since she is a doctor and my husband a pharmacist, we have had a lot of conversations comparing health care, with many pros and cons in each country. I think our 22 year old Spanish exchange daughter would move to America if she could. For all the cultural differences between Spain and the US, our daily lives are very similar. At least with an extremely well educated Spanish family, there is no hatred of Americans, nor do they experience it as a part of their culture. The Spanish dr. mom had her purse stolen on the subway. Maybe it was because she was mistaken for being an American (rather than not being cautious!) ha

Terry's comment about it being a status symbol for Spaniards to speak English caught my eye. My husband & I are going to Spain in October to participate in an English-immersion learning program for Spaniards called Pueblo Ingles. (www.puebloingles.com) They recruit native-English speakers, termed Anglos, to spend a week talking only in English to Spaniards that want to improve their English skills. In return, we get room & board for a week at a rural lodge, and a hopefully fantastic experience! This will be our first time at Pueblo Ingles, but our 3rd trip to Spain. We will have time before & after to tour Madrid, Sevilla, Granada & Toledo. Fantastico!!

Nancy, I hope you will report back after your experience speaking English to Spaniards. I think this program sounds like an amazing opportunity, a great way to get a low cost vacation while connecting in a very personal, meaningful way.

Nancy, how did you find that program? It sounds fantastic! I wonder if other countries have something similar.

To touch on how Bush was perceived by many Europeans - I have relatives in Germany who were soooo excited when Obama won the election. I got emails from all of them congratulating me (as if I had won the election for him! :)) and they said that everyone they knew were so happy for us! I believe that Europeans know much more about our politics than we generally know about theirs.

The highlight of our trip to Spain in May was the friendly people! We traveled to Madrid, Toledo, and Cordoba--didn't experience any anti-American hostility!!

I have been to Spain on 6 trips in the last 3 years and have never found any hospitality issues - but I have found the most wonderful welcome I have experienced anywhere in the world. As with one of the other posters, I participate in an English learning program, www.vaughantown.com. The Spanish people are improving their English speaking ability through concentrated in depth studies with English speakers. They have been most welcoming to me in every manner. Also, the hostals where I have stayed in Madrid, Salamanca, and Toledo have been staffed with very accommodating operators. Hostility? None at all.