Tag Archives: experience

I spent one year in Zaragoza, in the north of Spain, and lived with a family in a tiny village surrounded by almond trees (it was as idyllic as it sounds!). I wanted to talk about one thing which seems to be quite different in Spain compared to the UK, and that is alcohol.

In the UK, alcohol is quite restricted, and is most definitely shielded from the eyes of children. In the supermarket, alcohol is placed separately to the aisles of sweets and fizzy drinks – the classic setting for parent child power struggles – and when found elsewhere in the store bottles are placed high up on the shelf so none but the gangliest preteen could hope to reach them. If aforementioned preteen does get to the check out with his contraband, he is unceremoniously turned away by the diligent store assistant. Drinking establishments often have clearly defined and distinct areas for eating and consuming alcohol –access to these places is restricted, and many children nowadays will not have set foot in a pub before the age of 18.

At a Spanish supermarket, in contrast, alcoholic beer appears side by side with soft drinks, near the entrance of the store. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers sit together – it’s often hard to tell the difference between them. A British consumer might cast an eye over the price tags to differentiate – however, in Spain this is no help as alcoholic beer is often cheaper than the equivalent soft drink! This theme follows through to restaurants, where due to the economic savings involved I was compelled to order a lager with every meal for half the price of orange juice. Pubs do not exist in Spain in the same way as in England – stop at any local café and lining the shelves will be lemonade, Colacao (a chocolately milk drink) and neat vodka. And the Spanish are just dying to give alcohol away. At the end of every meal out, tiny chupito glasses appear on the table – a 40 proof aperitif on the house.

I don’t know whether it’s the difference in taxation, a more relaxed drinking culture or just flagrant alcoholism. All I can say is that now I know why the first Spanish phrase a British person often learns is ‘dos cervezas, por favour!’