PowerPoint Presentation

Typical clichs about Spain

IndexWhat is a clich?Are true the clichs about Spain?First clich: Spain is differentSecond clich: Spain is AfricaThird clich: We love bullfightingFourth clich: Its warm all year roundFifth clich: In Spain people usually talk very loudlySixth clich: Its cheap to live in SpainBibliography

What is a clich? A clich is an stereotypistic idea of a country, a community, a job or another part of the social reality which is not always true.

Are true the clichs about Spain? There are a lot of clichs about Spain and Spaniards: its always sunny and hot; we all sleep the siesta; all the Spanish people love bullfighting and flamenco; we are so lazy; we speak very loudly Even though there are some of them that are really true, others are completely false. We are going to talk about the truthfulness.

First clich: Spain is different Its true that Spain, in spite of being a developed country, it has its particularities: its economy is strongly based on tourism; its history is independent from European history So, if you think about this clich, youll draw your own conclusions.

Second clich: Spain is Africa Secondly, lets talk about the location of Spain. Spain is an European country located in the southwest zone of Europe. Thats just something one can see in any map. Maybe, people think this because Spain is very close to Morocco.

Third clich: We love bullfighting Bullfighting is the most traditional of Spanish Fiestas, but lately some people who defend the animal rights demonstrate against this celebration. So, not all the Spaniards love bullfighting.

Moreover, some regions of Spain (Catalonia, for example) have forbidden this kind of celebrations.

Fourth clich: Its warm all year round Theclimate of Spainvaries across the country. There is a mix between Mediterranean, oceanic and semi-arid climates.

In summer, its very hot. The average temperature is about 86 K (30C).

In these maps we can see the temperatures according to touristic zones and regions. However, in winter, more in the inland than in the coast, the temperatures are very cold. It usually snows or freezes.

Fifth clich: In Spain people usually talk very loudly Spanish people have a bad reputation for talking very loudly and being unpolite. In one hand, this is a reality, because in Spain we are quite careless when we talk but, in the other hand, this happens because of our accent. Here we have a recording example of rural Spanish accent. (click here)

So, if you are foreign maybe the people voice level is going to surprise you.

Sixth clich: Its cheap to live in Spain This is completely true. If we compare the cost of living of the developed European countries, well discover that Spain is one of the cheapest countries of the EU along with Hungry, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria and Poland.

For example, if we compare the price of a Combo meal at McDonalds, we have the next figures:

Ireland Greece Norway Poland Germany MoroccoSpain 7.00 6.00 12.28 3.89 6.00 5.00 6.50

Also, one can see the difference in monthly money necessary for food per person(assuming 31 day per month):IrelandGreeceNorwayPolandGermanyMoroccoSpain 235.9 183.8 372 113.1 200.5 111.3163.9

We have to consider the salary differences between these countries but, for a tourist who is visiting Spain, the daily life would problably seem to him cheap.

There are more clichs; some are completely absurd (Spaniards wear Mexican sombreros); but others are quite veracious:We all sleep siesta: its true that a lot of people in Spain love it.Spanish people dancesevillanasand singflamenco: these genres are mainly spread around Andalusia, but not all the Spaniards dance flamenco.

Spanish people are always drinking sangria: to be honest, most Spaniards prefer a good wine or beer. The tourists are actually the only ones who drink sangria compulsively.

Bibliography Some interesting webs where I have found the information are:http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/top-cliches.aspxhttp://mybeautifuladventures.com/2011/04/04/guest-post-top-7-spanish-cliches/ If you are interested in this topic, you will find information about it on the Net.

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