Discover the differences between Mexico and Spain

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I am starting a new stage of my life in Madrid. I arrived at this beautiful city and the Madrilenians have welcomed me very nicely. I thought it was going to be difficult to settle in, but honestly, the atmosphere has given me the best welcome possible.

Attitudes and personalities

Even though there are some things that you should know if you come from abroad, especially from Mexico:

In general the Madrilenians are really nice, but if you catch them on a bad day or come across someone in a bad mood, you might think that you have offended them... as they have the bad habit, honestly, to screw with you about things or to get angry really quickly. But in my experience, it hasn't been the most common thing and they have treated me really nicely, even having a chat with you and wishing you a nice stay in Madrid.

The people are also very direct, if it is yes, it is yes, there is no halfway and the people are very direct. It annoys them more if you don't say things how it is or go back on something, so don't worry about asking things at the moment that you need them, they know whether they will accept or not, but they like it if you are direct.

Their life is Spain, of course, there are all sorts, but they are used to talking about what surrounds them, they are not that interested in other parts of the world. Don't be offended if they are not familiar with your country. This is different from Mexico because we are used to knowing about other places, knowing a bit about other cultural issues, which we could be complimented on.

Cafes and Bars

Some bars and cafes are full of used napkins, as they have the tradition of eating some pincho or tapa standing and throw the napkin on the floor. Even though in Mexico this is not something that we look on well, my recommendation is to not miss out on the opportunity of going into these places because they are the best tradition and the best ones that you will find, as the locals go to them.

It is definitely worth ordering a can, as there are several places that if you order a can, they will give you another pincho or two to share. Some places that I can recommend are: La Taberna La Buha or el bar el tigre del norte.

The coffee is quite strong and they usually drink it straight or with milk. Even if you are used to Mexican or Latin American coffee, there are a few speciality ones, but I don't recommend that you go regularly, as, while the coffee only costs between 50 cents and 1. 50 euros, depending on the place, the speciality coffees go from 4 euros upwards.

In cafes, it isn't very normal for people to order a coffee and sit down to write, normally their stay there is short. There are even cafes that don't have wifi, so if you need it, it is better to make sure they have it before you go inside. On the other hand, there is never any other place to sit down and write when you want, espeically in more cultural neighbourhoods like Chueca, La Latina, Malasana and Lavapies.

Saying that, I recommend that you get carried away by the marvellous people their and don't take anything personally, you will learn a lot about the differences between them and you.