Yzabelle Bostyn
AN Australian YouTuber has sparked controversy after claiming Spaniards are ‘unfriendly’ and ‘do not care about others’ since Covid.
Stuart, also known as @SpainSpeaks on YouTube has been documenting his life in the outskirts of Madrid on the popular social media platform.
His videos advising visitors what not to do to escape the wrath of angry locals have often graced headlines in the UK- but this time, the Spanish press have also caught on.
In a video entitled ‘Reasons Why Moving to Spain Might NOT Be For You’, Stuart goes through some of the ‘issues’ with living in Spain, including the language, pace of life and politics.
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However, the piece of advice that has shocked Spaniards is his claim that locals are ‘unfriendly’ and ‘individualistic’.
“Another reason why you might not want to move here is that a lot of people are just not all that friendly,” he said.
He cited the phrase ‘ir a su bola’, meaning ‘do your own thing’, saying, a lot of people here ‘do their own f**cking thing, they don’t give a stuff about anyone else.’
The Perth native recognised it could be down to the ‘big city values’ in Madrid and ‘might change in smaller towns.’
After living in Spain for 26 years, he claimed Spaniards have become ‘closed off’ in the last few years and he is now unable to have ‘neighbourly’ relationships.
“I don’t know why it is, maybe it’s since the pandemic but in general people are not that friendly and you can see this on a daily basis,” he continued.
“People aren’t helpful in supermarkets or in bars and restaurants…I thought the first rule of business was to put the customer first but unfortunately that seems to be lacking.”
While many commenters agreed with Stuart’s points, many from quieter towns shot down the claim that Spaniards are unfriendly.
One British expat said: “I live in a small town in Alicante. I find the Spanish very friendly. All my neighbours are Spanish and give me figs and lemons. I give them almonds.”
Meanwhile a local commenter shared their ‘surprise’ at the Aussie’s opinion, saying: “I’m really surprised this opinion is coming from expatriates…there are so many foreigners living in Spain crowded into colonies…they are in a ‘Little Britain’, buy products from British supermarkets and do not speak Spanish.”
Though the story has caught on in the Spanish press, most outlets have falsely claimed Stuart is British.
