I’m back in Spain after a month away, a 3,000 km odyssey via France (where I managed to get totally offline for 2 weeks for the first time in … years), two wonderful family weeks in the UK, and finally the ferry home from Portsmouth to Santander (Thanks Colin for putting us on to the joy of Brittany Ferries!)
A note on the ferry: we dreaded spending 24 hours on a boat, but enjoyed it immensely. Yes, the normally rough Bay of Biscay was calm as a lake, but the boat was huge, our cabin was big enough, and a nice lady from whale charity ORCA gave us a talk on the evening we departed about wildlife we might see, and the following day helped us spot dolphins and whales from the heliport deck.
Apart from common and bottlenose dolphins, we saw two fin whales, the second largest animal on the planet (after the blue whale). Others spotted sperm whales and pilot whales. Either we are very lucky, or the Bay of Biscay is teeming with life!
Here are some of my first impressions of Spain (from the drive home from the Santander ferry to Madrid):
1. There are a ridiculous amount of brothels along the highway around Valladolid – part of the route we took home. These are known as ‘clubs’ and are identified by the garish coloured neon strip lights around the edge of the buildings. Libido must be wild in Castilla y Leon, these things are everywhere!
Sadly they are full of girls from Eastern European countries and beyond who have been conned, abused, and forced into working there.
2. People walk into bars here to smoke, instead of walking out to smoke. Much as I hate smoking in bars and restaurants, there is something great about seeing the Spanish casually do something much of the rest of Europe has renounced so fiercely. No one tells Spain how to behave!
3. Highway driving here = appalling. You’re in the fast, overtaking lane, about to pass a lorry, when an SUV undertakes you at crazy speeds, and squeezes into the tiny gap between you and the lorry, just so he can get past it before you do. Scary. Unnecessary. Seen less in the UK.
4. It’s still bloody hot (compared to the UK!)
5. More soon. Suffice is to say that it’s great to be back. But it was wonderful to be away.
Sara
13 Aug 09 at 8:40 pm
We’ll be in Spain over Christmas this year. After living in Austin, TX for the last 4.5 years, we’ll see what kind of “reverse culture shock” my Spanish husband has!
Carlton Nettleton
14 Aug 09 at 1:25 am
Just returned from a trip to Barca y Ibiza (es paradis…) and I think the only people who smoke worse than the Spanish are the Chinese! Missing Spain more every day…
Jon
14 Aug 09 at 9:56 am
Ben – how do you know about those girls in the clubs…?
Daisy
14 Aug 09 at 1:51 pm
Ben I hear what you say about the motorway driving – we just did the trip up from the Costa Blanca to Bilbao. But honestly compared to being back in the UK the sheer volume of traffic is so much lighter in Spain the driving really is a pleasure… at least next to the M25 it is! We rolled off the ferry at Portsmouth… straight into cones and roadworks and delays. Can’t wait to be back in Spain again soon!
Aloriel
14 Aug 09 at 7:54 pm
About the brothels, yes, I took that road many times from Valladolid to Palencia and it’s astonighing how many of them are. About the girls, I guess you don’t really know, but you’re probably right.
About the heat, Madrid is a frying pan.
Mikaela
14 Aug 09 at 10:08 pm
Ben, how do you know the nationality of those girls? Did you ask them? Are you sure they aren’t from the UK?
Graham
14 Aug 09 at 10:41 pm
I am interested in how you know about the nationality of the girls too Ben. Wasn’t Marina with you?
Ben
15 Aug 09 at 11:24 am
RE source of my info about who inhabits the brothels – an extensive reportage in El Pais mentioned lots of the women coming from ex-soviet block countries in the east. Also apparently, there are a number of sub-saharan africans, and brazilians… that I have from a friend who has been to such places… with his Spanish father in law funnily enough.
Jon
15 Aug 09 at 2:50 pm
I have a good friend who has much experience with Spanish “clubs”… in fact he had to flee the country to get away from a nice (Spanish) girl he met in a club and asked to move in with him.
He also has much experience with east-block girls in clubs. They may indeed be exploited, but I noticed that they also exploit my friend quite a bit… and seem to take great pleasure in doing so!
luke
15 Aug 09 at 3:52 pm
Hi Ben. Your point that ‘no one tells Spain how to behave’ when it comes to smoking, could also be symptomatic of your point about the amount of brothels around. A Spanish man who has a cigarette in a bar and goes to a brothel doesn’t want to be told how to behave from the ‘anglosajones’. Your recommendation of ‘Ghosts of Spain’ is a good starting point for the Spanish attitude to brothels and some Spanish people’s attitude to the ‘fascistic’ foreign ‘moralistas’. According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (via ‘GoS’) one in four Spanish men under 49 have had sex with a prostitute (2006). This was higher than similar surveys in Europe in that year. Personally I’ve never used these services but if both parties are engaging in this contract safely and of their own free will then it may be beneficial. I couldn’t say the same of smoking.
MrMark
15 Aug 09 at 9:23 pm
Good to see you posting again Ben. Was it sunny on the coast when you landed (I know you’ve already mentioned it was warm)? Hope you bought some of that magnificent cheese to take down to Madrid.
RayTibbitts
16 Aug 09 at 4:05 am
Welcome back, Ben and fam!
I just had a wonderful drive this afternoon. On the way there I took the toll road – smooth, lonely (the way I like it) and speedy. A beautiful drive. On the way back, I took the free roads, and despite the construction, detours, and the extra company, I still had a good time, staying in the slow lane, and letting everybody else pass, until I absolutely had to. With a “slow-mix” of music, it was almost like being in Southern California again.
Luckily, I don’t have to commute very often, and I remember the stress and fear when I had to cross half of Madrid daily, but I’m beginning to change my bad attitude about driving in Spain.
I could do without the radar-cameras, though.
Andy
16 Aug 09 at 2:10 pm
On the costa blanca the girls just wait for clients at the roundabouts , on a lay by at the side of the roads.(bit awkward trying to explain to my mother why there are so many young ladies barely dressed at the side of the road in the middle or nowhere jeje) If you think driving in Spain is bad you should try drivingl in Malta!
ValenciaSon
16 Aug 09 at 2:53 pm
As history shows, the world’s oldest profession is timeless.
Jon
16 Aug 09 at 4:56 pm
“…the world’s oldest profession is timeless…”
Well I think those gals are watching the clock pretty close!
Victor
17 Aug 09 at 9:25 pm
Ben, did you hear about this? Your claims are being heard! hahahahaha
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Sanidad/asegura/ciudadanos/partidarios/endurecer/ley/antitabaco/elpepusoc/20090817elpepusoc_2/Tes
Chris
18 Aug 09 at 12:14 am
I agree with you about the brothels, Ben. I used to live in Valladolid and it was amazing to me just how many were in that area. At night sometimes you could see some of the girls standing along parts of the highway, waiting to be picked up. It was a bit tragic really.
Ben
18 Aug 09 at 10:06 am
@Victor, ojala sea verdad!
ValenciaSon
18 Aug 09 at 12:51 pm
Igual digo yo, Victor.
Stephen
19 Aug 09 at 4:14 pm
So many people can comment on the brothels from the experience of a “friend”.
Randall
24 Aug 09 at 10:39 am
The comment about Spanish drivers…very poor drivers, in general. They drive much too fast and exhibit poor judgement…
Sheila
27 Aug 09 at 11:54 pm
We take Brittany Ferries from Cork in Ireland to Roscoff every year, it’s a great ship. Then we drive thru France and then Spain to the Costa Blanca. The Spanish drive more aggressively than the French but there’s hardly any traffic in Navarra, you can go for miles on cruise control. A very different story on the AP7 though. The ring-road around Valencia is always a nightmare.
French motorway cafes are a lot better than the Spanish ones but its always lovely to hear ‘hola’ instead of ‘bonjour’ at the toll booths….
Teach Your Child To Read
5 Dec 09 at 11:12 pm
Have to say Sheila that the A7 around Valencia is usually Ok even at rush hour these days. You must have been unlucky.
When it only had two lanes it was a nightmare every morning. I have to do that road every day at 8.45am more or less and really no problem on the way to school