I stumbled on a novel by María Dueñas, The Heart Has Its Reasons (Misión Olvido). It mentioned a 1953 Spanish movie, Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall. It is apparently considered a masterpiece of Spanish film comedy. My Spanish teacher encouraged me to try watching it. She warned me not to expect to understand it. (I didn't. But it was fascinating). It is very tied to Spanish culture and politics of the 1950s. The plot line consists of a small village in Castile. It learns that US officials will be driving through. It decides to try to get aid under the Marshall Plan.
In order not to disappoint the visitors, they decide to make and dress up in Andalusian costumes and learn an Andalusian dance.
In short, our ideas of Spain are probably based on Andalusia.
I thought of this when I started to watch a Spanish-learning series, Destinos, and--of course--the first place the protagonist visits in Spain is Sevilla.
I grew up in the 1950s when Spain was still under Franco. Tourist promotions had to deal with the fact that Spain was a relatively undeveloped country. They tried to make the best of this with the slogan, "Spain is different!"
I think my stereotypes of Spain. First, British stereotypes of Spain from the era when they were frequently at war with each other. Second, "Sunny Spain," i.e. tourist promotions. (Yes, I know there mountains and ski resorts in Spain). "Sunny Spain" is connected with the idea that Spain = Andalusia, I think. And, third, of course, bullfighting. We probably still think of Spain as described by Ernest Hemingway, in Death in the Afternoon, i.e. Spain in the 1930s.
I used to live in the UK and there were a lot of Spanish people too. They came to study English and to work. So I had some very good experiences with them in the school and in my workplace. I think Spanish people are very friendly, funny, sociable and open-minded. They are always open for some fun. They like parties or just hanging out. It is easy to be friends with them.<o:p></o:p>
We have a lot of Spaniards in the Philippines so my opinion about Spaniards may be right or wrong- they're all based on my experiences with them. If you want my honest opinion then I would state both the positive and the negative word picture that I have of Spaniards:
Positive: Good-looking, friendly, vivacious, warm
Negative: Lazy (perhaps it's because of the siesta time lol) and not punctual.
