10 Spain Myths Debunked!

10 Spain Myths Debunked!

Crazy tax rates scary payers and lazy Spaniards look there are certain myths about this country that I just see over and over again and even after 12 years of living in this country there might even be a few of the myths that are coming up that I still believe myself so

Our challenge today is to put the proverbial nail in the coffin of these 10 Spain myths that refuse to die but must die so I think there’s a myth or a misconception about Spain that Tapas are this kind of ubiquitous unified concept that if I go anywhere in Spain for lunch

Or dinner I’m going to eat Tapas it’s just Tapas I’m going to order Tapas I’m going to eat Tapas I’m going to see them on the menu you know I saw a guy who was doing a a vlog and he was talking about how to budget for Spain he said you know

When you’re traveling in Spain you should budget for two or three Tapas per person when you go out and so it just makes tapa seem kind of simpler than the whole concept is right so I think that the confusion comes that when we go to

Bars or Tapas bars uh the way of eating is sharing plates sharing food whether that is called Tapas or not in Madrid for example you might get a free tapa with a drink but then you go to Seville and you will see the word tapa on the

Menu or you can order also a bigger a larger Ron what about in senses what would you get there so there you go and you will get Pines which are individual Tapas so maybe the terminology and the way of ordering and the sizes very but what unifies everything is the act of

Sharing food that is doing Tapas that is is the Tapas okay so in a surve a few years back 770 Europeans were asked who are the laziest people in Europe and 320 people said Spaniards only Greece was chosen more where 328 people uh said Greeks so that’s only because there were

More Greeks in that survey probably or less Greeks yeah true I think it’s a misunderstanding of our street culture our way to relax and and have fun and socialize is to go out in the street and do things uh I love how non-specific that sounds go out in

The street and do things do things like what like have a cup of coffee with a friend or have drinks with friends or go for a meal with someone even go for a walk without spending money so what you’re trying to say yolly is actually

Uh once and for all you are not the laziest people in Europe AP from the Greeks not at all in fact uh we work at some of the longest hours in Europe I found this graphic that shows uh how early we start working and how late we

Finish working in Europe right and while there were a few European countries that started earlier than us uh we have the highest percentage of people that are still working at 8:00 p.m. but there is a little wrinkle here I found some data Spaniards may work long hours I will

Give you that but studies do show that Spaniards aren’t very productive we’re so tired I mean how can we work that hard you well there you go there you go but since 1995 Spain has become almost 20% less productive than the EU average and our productivity is about 63% of the

German productivity two reasons I thought they were interesting one was a lack of training and I see this I don’t think there is a strong culture here when a new employee starts working in a company they are really well trained I don’t think there’s a culture of like okay you’re going to be

Trained for 3 months while you’re working in a structured way blah blah blah blah would you agree yeah my experience been like yeah I would just giving like a few instructions and like oh you learn you know you learn with time and the second reason which I thought was very interesting is that

Spain has a higher proportion compared to the rest of Europe and particularly Germany uh of small companies we have a lot of small companies say 10 people or less uh whereas if you go to Germany and other countries as well there’s a lot more the share of companies a lot more

Bigger companies and I think in smaller companies you know you’re 10 people you’re having to cover a lot of roles and so it’s a little bit more chaotic and hectic whereas the minute you get to a bigger uh company uh like you know you might have in in Germany I’m obsessed

With the Germans now uh you know everybody kind of has their role and their task is a bit more streamlined it’s a myth that Spaniard are lazy but you need to up your game a little bit and short okay yolly we need to talk about P I see images online uh where

People load their paa that they make with massive amounts of chicken and muscles and shrimp and it’s all covered in it it’s like a little rice base with all the Seafood and Meat on top of it tiny grain somewhere there and I also see people sometimes complain online

Because the pay they got in Spain at a pretty good restaurant only had four shrimp on it or my pione head five muscles I got ripped off help us understand what’s going on here please bathe us in truth a great paa is never determined by the protein on top so the

Shrimp or the chicken or the the calamari that you might find on top that stuff is yummy of course but it’s never the star the star is the rice that’s what it’s all about right in Valencia a great paa Master taught us that the three keys to a great paa are that the

Gra are intact not broken that the grains are separate not all mushy in together I hate mushy pie and last but not least that the rice is impregnated fully with the wonderful flavor of the stock that you’ve been cooking away uh for it’s really like that’s what it’s

All about it’s like does the grain have all that flavor exactly not about the protein he never mentioned the protein on top he didn’t mention it guys no mention of the protein but also uh I asked chat GP te to create the world’s worst P yet so yolly this is what uh it

Came up with so I love it what have we got here Yoli we’ve got uh well slices of pizza um that’s pretty great uh Oreo uh cookies fried egg lollies fried egg L yeah lots of lollies actually I can see H sa juice look you could put Oreos in

Your paa but what the key is is you must Infuse the stock with Oreo flavor so that then the Oreo flavor impregnates the rice don’t just put Oreos on top that’s cheating that work that’s cheating we’re going to bust one of Spain’s most sacred myths now so if you

Flick over the Spanish tourism website it says that Spain is according to one uh study the healthiest country in the world and a big part of that is largely thanks to the Mediterranean diet first what is the Mediterranean diet so it’s this notion that we eat a lot of legumes

And nuts and fruit a good amount of fish but not really much meat at all and we have a lot of olive oil on everything right that’s basically what it is well yeah fun fact actually the official Spanish dictionary includes wine in the definition of Mediterranean diet Yoli

What’s the status of the Mediterranean diet because this is one that I think this is a myth to the extent that it’s a myth that Spaniards also believe well look it does exist uh you can find it in traditional recipes uh recipes for Soups stews uh rice dises uh even the the

Habit of having fruit for dessert you know which you’ve always done all these yeah yeah yeah that’s you know that’s my everyday life you know uh it’s there but we’re doing it less and less and we’re not eating that healthy uh anymore as we used to maybe a few decades ago also

We’re doing way more processed food fast food U eats so but this is more uh showing really the the change of um lifestyle so you know with both parents are working outside the house and it’s just not as easy to have like wonderfully cooked uh really heal

Healthy meals every day we know with our lack of time and so on an article titled Mediterranean diet Spanish kids are among the fattest in Europe 17% of young girls and 19% of young boys are obese in Spain and it’s not just the kids over half the population in Spain is

Overweight how about that does that include us am I fat no I don’t think so not anymore I was actually when I start to work out so anyway let’s continue we won’t get into that that’s a whole another story that’s another video and what I thought was interesting is

Recently a politician suggested that Spaniards should eat less meat and there was this outrage a lot of Spaniards identify meat as an important part of their of their identity especially Iberian ham they think it’s as healthy as a apple and yet the Mediterranean diet is kind of like you shouldn’t eat

Much meat so I think there’s been a shift also and actually we think we’re eating the Mediterranean diet but we’re also loving a lot of meat that’s part of our identity so it’s gotten very mixed up so in short the idea that we promote that we’re all eating the Mediterranean

Diet uh is really a myth but it’s not a myth that needs to die it’s a myth of what needs to be returned to us that’s such a confusing way of saying it what needs to come back cuz we need to get back into it right need to research well

You need to research yeah I don’t know what that means but we need to research ah oh research okay research yeah that’s all we need to do okay so this one really drives me nuts yolly can I just take this one and own it and have a rant

All yours okay so as you know I may have mentioned I run a course called the move to Spain masterclass that helps people relocate to Spain right and so I’m exposed to a lot of you know Facebook groups where people talk about moving to Spain and one thing that I see over and

Over again is people believing that if you move to Spain you will pay 50% of your income in tax sometimes 45% sometimes 48% so we’re going to break this down and deal with it once and for all yeah you could feel the once and for all coming couldn’t you that was a once

And for all moment in Spain like in most places in the world we have what’s called a progressive tax system which means that you only pay higher tax rates on the income that falls within each higher bracket not on your entire income and I know this might feel a bit kind of

Yeah exactly I couldn’t find the word but I’m glad you found it I will give an example after this so as your income increases and Crosses into a new bracket only the amount above the bracket’s threshold is taxed at the higher rate so let’s take for example you earn $62,000

So you’re going to pay 19% on the first you know bracket uh and then each bracket as it goes up and the top bracket as you see where you pay 45% you’re only going to pay 45% on anything over €60,000 which is €2,000 you may still believe and totally open to

Believe that that Spain’s tax rate is too high but I think it’s just really important that people understand how it actually works and I think the other thing I see a lot of people seeing is that you have to cost out your whole life in Spain and while tax rates might

Be higher in Spain than where you’re coming from property tax is really low here Health Care is very cheap here relatively speaking and so I think you have to look at it in a Global Perspective right so again while I have your ear if you are moving to Spain

Remember that in the description below there’s some free resources for you if you’re interested there’s a free guide that I’ve written about how to rent a home in Spain there’s a free guide about how to buy property about how to buy a home in Spain and there’s also a free

Guide from my friends at Spartan FX currency conversion experts about how to move your money to Spain without paying crazy exchange rates or getting caught up in bureaucratic nightmares so if you’re moving here check the description below there’s some free resources for you to download that hopefully will help

Out a little bit okay rant over I hope that’s clear I hope I wasn’t was I too intense a little bit Yeah okay good that that was actually necessary I need to get that was my tough love moment that’s okay so next up I think there’s a mythical perception that Spain is this

Place that’s really cheap to visit and and or to move to and something I noticed and really stuck out for me is when I went to Valencia some months ago to interview some Americans who had moved there one of the guys Patrick said the following and you have people on

These blogs saying oh you can live here comfortably for a th000 a month which is not not accurate so Yoli he had read a lot that like ,000 was what you need to live in Spain uh I don’t know can you live on ,000 I mean obviously people do

But what’s the reality here it’s a little more complex right yeah I mean you can survive on ,000 but I mean used to be true that to be a Mista to earn ,000 a month uh was quite common uh more than 10 years ago really uh but I mean

Nowadays the minimum uh wage is uh 1,260 per month and actually the fact that the minimum salary has risen by 47% in the last 4 years uh goes to show how much the cost of living has increased over the last few years for example housing is super expensive uh in

Madrid and Barcelona in the big cities in the popular cities but it is true that Spain is a country where you can have wonderful experiences for not much money public transport is quite cheap eating out can be quite cheap as well and just you know the cheer walking

Around and just you know enjoying the vibe uh is free a lot of people when they plan to come to Spain or move anywhere they often don’t do a budget or they do a bit of a loose budget in their heads of what it will cost and what find

With those loose budgets is people often forget all the different kind of line items or categories that you have in your life that of expenses that you have do you go to the gym do you get your haircut like do you buy presents for your friends yeah do you I mean yeah

Christmas gifts so I think you really need to pin down your cost of living where you are and then transpose it into Spain see what those costs will be here so I believe there Remains the perception the false perception that Spain is really still a cash-based society and economy the reality on the

Ground is different now right yeah so I mean there was a shift already happening before uh the pandemic but of course things are accelerated with the pandemic so right now it’s super common place to uh use even your contactless card uh to do payment over 20% of payments of some

Of the main banks are made via contact list which is the highest amount in Europe you kind of have a little bit of coinage you know for for for tipping and things like that you never know because there are some restaurants where you will only be able to pay in cash I

Always I hate those places because it’s so obvious that they’re not paying their taxes like why else would we all have to pay in tax right so in short as a tourist have a little bit of cash but really you can use contact you can use

Your phone you can use your card pretty much everywhere so we couldn’t dive into Spanish myths and Destroy them all if we didn’t touch on the Siesta the ultimate myth right Yoli what is the state of the Nation on the Siesta but first do you have a siesta I wish

I do miss the days when I used to have cister as a student so I would uh go back home from high school and then have lunch and while the wildlife documentaries were on I would have a lovely nap on the sofa but it’s not as

Common as it used to be right no it is not common 60% of us never have aist 20% occasionally and 8% only 8% regularly I’ll tell you though who does have sisters nowadays the Germans yep according to a recent study 22% of Germans say they take three naps for a

Week which is a lot so while a siesta might be great it just ain’t happening here it’s happening over in Germany go and talk to them okay so here’s a myth that I think I sort of slightly might kind of a little bit believe myself so Spaniards don’t eat vegetables that’s

The myth I’m not saying that’s the truth but that’s the myth Spaniards don’t eat vegetables don’t believe it don’t believe it well maybe I kind of anyway the amount of times on a devour food tour that I was leave leading I would meet tourists who would say to me my

Kingdom for a salad because I have been in Spain for a week and I think excuse me you’re getting ill you’re not eating enough vegetables obviously and I’ve been in Spain for a week and I think I’m getting scurvy because I need to get my hands on some fresh vegetables so I

Think this perception uh comes from the fact that when you’re visiting you do go to a lot of Tapas bars it is true that in certain regions in Spain you will get a lot of fried food for example but that doesn’t reflect what people eat at home

Think of it as a different set of dishes right so growing up uh my mother uh would cook a lot of uh stews based on chickpeas uh lentils uh you know beans there will always be a salad at the center of the table um and the way we finish off meals

At home is just by eating a piece of fruit so there you go I just want to pull rank though um I don’t think like lentils and beans are are legumes like they’re not actually vegetables so it might have been that and then Chito and blood sausage and things like that I

Think this you might be actually proving the point a little bit here okay so I think the image many people have of Spain is that it’s a particularly Catholic country what’s the deal now Yoli are you holy or are you heathens you know Spain is a country

Where we have you know our huge religious parades at Easter you know you go to to to Seville in Sea Santa and is like wow all these people that seem very religious and very you know carrying candles walking for hours exactly but remember that for many many if not most

Of those people out there doing it it’s more about tradition than about being actively religious and going to mass every Sunday so for example in 1980 when asked only 88.5% of Spaniard didn’t believe in God say they didn’t believe in God old satanists and wearing horns and stuff like that like really

Out there well nowadays it’s actually 39.3% that don’t believe in god wow almost 40% that’s like that’s a huge grow yeah even those who do believe don’t go to mass uh that much 47.5% of those who declare themselves as Catholics don’t go to mass almost ever

Uh and only 10.6% of those who declare themselves uh Catholics go go to MK every Sunday less and less religious and you’re not even going to church if you are religious so fine you know the pope is not happy ex communication for everyone you’re doing it bad so I think

What it shows y Oli is that you know life in Spain is not simple it’s a complex tapestry you are complex Spaniard what a beautiful way to put it yeah are you complex I I’m very complex of course and very beautiful like a tapestry very good and look if you’re

Still curious about Spanish culture then uh if you want to see a younger version of us not too much younger little bit younger uh talking about things you should definitely not do in Spain then click on this video that may be appearing over yol’s face or my face uh

And we’ll see you over there in a moment all right lost my voice Chia

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Yoly and I dismantle 10 Spain myths that refuse to die!

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Edited by Clément Letourneur
Thumbnail Lucas Kieffer

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:27 Everything is Tapas
01:38 Spaniards are Lazy
04:29 Paella = Protein
06:36 The Med Diet
09:19 Income Tax is 50%
11:53 Spain is Cheap
13:50 Spain is a Cash Economy
11:46 The Siesta
15:40 Spaniards Don’t Eat Vegetables
17:08 Spaniards are Very Religious

WHO ARE WE? 🥝
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Hola, Spain lovers! We’re James and Yoly. James is a New Zealander, and Yoly is from Spain. And we both live in Madrid. This channel is all about giving you a local insight into life in Spain, and helping you experience this country like a local when you come to visit (or live!). If that sounds like your kind of thing, bienvenid@!