How are Brits perceived abroad?

I know we have a few mainland European folks here. So I'll ask.

I'm seeing lots in the media that suggests our European neighbours don't like us at the moment and would rather we bugger off and go and play outside our own house.

That said, having recently been to Spain twice and France once, I didn't pick up on any hint of animosity. I'm also aware of other factors, like how the media just loves to run with a good story, and how certain places have unfortunately attracted a certain 'type' of tourist, and of course people are going to get frustrated after a while.

So I wonder what the real position is.

 

Although the reports highlight Brits not being welcome in some areas I think it's far wider than that. Just as in places like Cornwall, Lake District etc locals are being priced out of the housing market for purchase and rental. Landlords can get far more by renting on Airbnb to holiday makers than from long term rentals to people living locally. People in other countries seem far more willing to make their voices hear loud and clear. There have been problems for many years in The Canaries with illegal letting of apartments in residential blocks to tourists, and finally things have come to a head.

 

I currently live in Yorkshire and often feel like people would like us to go home!

 

Many, many xenophobic French lap up what the media feeds them, but then it's exactly the same in UK A lot depends whether you're asking from the point of view of a tourist or a potential permanent resident. Brexit will never be condoned here, although the reasons behind it are perfectly understood and sympathised with by many. Brit tourists are (nearly) always welcome, especially the free-spending kind that don't check their additions too carefully and tip generously
Brits are generally perceived as polite, fun-loving and not too bad on the whole. Putting it into perspective, the other options are Belgians (humourless), Dutch (TAADA), Germans and Scandinavians (wealthy but a tad arrogant) or Americans (an alien species with lots of money to be parted from asap).
What makes all the difference is just attempting to come up with the basics of language...Bonjour, s'il vous plait, Merci, Bonne journée/ après-midi / soirée / nuit. Making eye contact and saying hello is normal here. Shaking hands with someone on first meeting is important. The French love extroverts, struggle a bit with timid or strong, silent types ...it's perceived as snobbery
As for anyone planning to live here, there are two choices....you try to integrate, support local businesses etc etc or you live in an ex-pat bubble (especially here in the South West), have your British white sliced loaves and English sausages delivered and spend most of your time at coffee mornings decrying everything French

 

My own experience, mostly in various parts of Spain, but also to a lesser extent (lesser by number of visits I mean) a few other European places, is that people are generally ok wherever you go. I think how welcome you feel is largely a reflection of how you behave. Even an absolutely terrible attempt to use basic manners in the local language seems to be appreciated, and I like to make eye contact and be jolly and smiley and respectful without being over the top. Seems to work for me.

But I see some of my fellow Brits abroad and sometimes I just want the ground to swallow me up. Sometimes I feel like I ought to apologise on behalf of the UK. I could mention the drunken idiots urinating in the streets but the media does a perfectly good job of showing that side. I'm more on about loud entitled Brits yelling for the waiter/waitress to immediately come and serve them, despite them being busy serving someone else, or in one case, a bloke swearing at the man at the restaurant who was showing us to our table, just because the restaurant man had the sheer audacity to politely explain he was just showing other guests to their table and he'd be back in a moment.

 

Even just a few basic words can make a massive difference when travelling abroad. Many people do understand and speak English well, but still appreciate an attempt to communicate in the language of the country. We were in Tenerife and were handed the menu, open to the English page. When the waiter walked back past he noticed I had the menu open on the Spanish page. He apologised but I explained I am English but wanted to see the Spanish names. We used that restaurant a few times and staff couldn't do enough for us. Even going to the extent of teaching us a few potentially useful phrases. I hope the translations were genuine.

 

I have lived and worked in several countries: Holland, they loved the Brits, similar humour, and the war. USA, loved my accent [ yes really ] always happy to show off their country, I was invited out most nights during my stay. We give Americans a bad press, but I had a wonderful time. All the others have been war zones: Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan where the locals were just trying not to be murdered by the opposition. They were just grateful for the work I did, but I was in awe of their bravery.

 

When ordering chicken, just be careful not to say something like 'quiero un polla grande por favor'.

The problem is that pollo is chicken, but nouns ending in o are usually masculine, with their feminine counterparts ending a. But that's not always true. And asking for a polla grande might sound to a learner like asking for a large chicken, but it's not.

 

Living for many years in a "holiday Province" (I can't speak for how Brits act elsewhere in the country) but the guys that come here on Stag Nights are known to be very obnoxious and often end badly. However, on the overall, most visitors are normal and well behaved and welcomed. Most Portuguese who deal with the public here speak English ... but this not the the same further North. As it has been said by several above, knowing the basics is always helpful and polite.

I had to smile at this ...

This happened to us when when we first bought in 1988. The waiters also said that although we were trying, we talked like a book. We became friends and visited often on our holidays, but sadly the waiters went elsewhere, we lost touch and we now live in another (non tourist) area.

 

OH and I live in a smal hamlet about 20kms inland from La Tranche-sur-Mer whose population goes form 4000 in winter to 40,000 in summer. Some are Brits who have 2nd homes here or maybe justa mobile home in on eof th eparks along the coast. Same goes for the Belgians and Dutch and a few Germans plus oodles of inland French.

The deepest opprobrium is reserved for the Parisians who are all "entitled" - bad manners and egos all round. Then the Dutch who tend to come with their car/caravan/mobile home filled with food from home as it's cheaper than buying local. They are known in Belgium and round here for being arrogant, joyless and tight-fisted. The Belgians know how to have fun and also are usually great gourmets/gourmands.

Then there are two kinds of Brits - the acceptable ones have made an effort to learn at least basic French and are polite, friendly and enjoy what's on offer. The other kind are the ones that bray in bars, restaurants, shops and are rude to one and all especially when they don't speak English. Deeply unpleasant and embarrassing and the main reason OH and I steer well clear of the coast during July and August.

I knew Brits in Belgium who spent their entire life in English but it was easy enough there with all sorts of ex-pat clubs, shops and activities and a huge ex-pat population. Here there are jfar fewer Brits. I've met quite a few, some who've settled and learned French and have integrated a bit but I'm only friends with 1 that I see a few times a year. The ones who haven't learned any French or tried to mix have a bizarre attitude to the French given they live here and are of no interest.

OH and I spend our lives outside the home in French with French people because that's where the action is - golf, dancing, garden club, patchwork/sewing club and our neighbours. I speak French quite well and read and write it better. OH is fine reading documents for banking, insurance etc but is far less fluent speaking French and tends to mangle it but people we mix with are always delighted that we try.

 

Here's an example of the media spinning the situation to make it sound like news. I honestly don't understand how they get away with it. I thought deliberately inciting hatred was a crime. Maybe I'm wrong.

Majorca locals confront tourists as tensions rise in holiday hotspot

So, Majorca locals are now confronting tourists as tensions rise. Sounds scary. But if we actually read past the headline, what's happening is some tourists having been on the receiving end of stern looks, when all they've done wrong is simply to completely disregard the local customs and etiquette about how we should present ourselves in public.

The Spanish are a funny lot. On the beach they seem quite comfortable stripping off, boobs out on display, barely a shoelace covering up the lower parts. But off the beach they are quite conservative in many ways. Fair play to them. It's their country. Their rules. And if someone decides to flout their rules, then I don't think it counts as 'tourists being confronted' or 'rising tensions' if locals moan about it.

For the record, I'm on the side of the moaning people of Majorca on this. True story, I once told off a young man in a kebab shop after a night out. Being fashionable I guess, his jeans were halfway down his backside, showing off his undies. I think my response was likely more confrontational than the Majorcan people in the article. With my sternest 'dad voice', I yelled, 'pull your trousers up lad, this is a food establishment, nobody wants to see your Rs when we're about to eat'.

 

I couldn't agree more about the two kinds of Brits, and Spain seems to be the worst for attracting the worst. We went on a jeep safari, only 3 jeeps, so everybody was chatting. One bloke said he'd lived in Spain for 20 years and couldn't speak the language. Paraphrasing his words - he didn't need to as he was in car sales and sold to Brits. Any 'D*go' who came in and couldn't speak English wasn't wanted as a customer. Unbelievable, and he actually seemed genuinely proud of his stance.

 

I agree about Airbnb. However, I don't blame the landlords, most people would do the same if they had the luxury of owning a second home.

Is it over tourism that is the issue, or the type of clientele. Ibiza has always been known as a party island, it still is. The problem is, the island has gone from being the 18-30 club holiday to the back yard for the mega rich. There has been reports that the flow of wealth onto the islands is likely to displace everyone else, yet the tabloids in the UK have been pushing this agenda that Brits are not wanted due to over tourism.

There was a documentary on the BBC a couple of weeks ago about the island, with the presenter Zara McDermott being shocked about the level of wealth and drug culture. Another report backs up the BBC documentary below

Ibiza Housing Crisis: A Paradise for the Wealthy - Repeat Ibiza

When I first went to Koh Samui in 1999 it was very noticeable that the island was previously a backpackers paradise and change was happening. I went back again in 1999 and again in 2001, the change in 2 years has put me off going back. For the size of the Island they probably get as many tourists per sq mile as Ibiza now. Yet you don't hear about over tourism and locals being priced out of the property sector. As foreigners are allowed to buy property, they are not allowed to own land, so even though there are expats living out there, you don't tend to see locals being priced out of the property sector as we tend to witness in the West.