AVOID These 15 Tourist MISTAKES in Spain

These are the 15 most common mistakes and assumptions that tourists make when they come to Spain! Venga, let’s go!

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Editor – Clément Letourneur
Thumbnail designer – Lucas Kieffer

==== WHO ARE WE? ====
Hola, Spain lovers! We're James and Yoly. James is a New Zealander, and Yoly is from Spain. We both live in Madrid. Our channel gives you a local insight into life in Spain and helps you experience this country like a local when you come to live (or visit!).

If that sounds like your kind of thing, bienvenid@!I

⏩ CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:01 Mistake 15 Thinking you need to drink alcohol with tapas
01:48 Mistake 14 Thinking Spaniards don't eat veggies
02:30 Mistake 13 Thinking you need to dress up
03:47 Mistake 12 Calling flamenco... flamingo 🦩
04:47 Mistake 11 Thinking Spain is under-developed
05:27 Mistake 10 Thinking you can't drink the tap water
06:01 Mistake 9 Thinking Spain is a smoker's paradise
07:06 Mistake 8 Stereotyping "Gypsies"
08:26 Mistake 7 Obsessing about "paella success"
09:51 Mistake 6 Thinking Spain has a cash economy
10:28 Mistake 5 Thinking tapas is a food
11:07 Mistake 4 Misusing bread
11:27 Mistake 3 Thinking you can't take kids for tapas
11:49 Mistake 2 Thinking the siesta is widespread
12:28 Mistake 1 Calling Barcelona... Barça

*This description contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you use them 🙏🏻

[MG-ktnj]

I am Spanish, and you have to avoid tourist traps at all costs. There is very good food here, but unfortunately many businesses cheat people who come from outside. for me personally it is an embarrassment of my country.

[chuche]

Came back from Spain 2 months ago and it was amazing! Stayed in local areas, shopped at local stores! Found the fruits and vegetables so much better then what you would find in a common grocery store in the states. We drank the local water every where we went including Barcelona at it was all fine. Like Italy, drinking from the water facets on the streets were a life saver. Never had any issues with the food. Can't wait to get back! My wife and I fell in love with Spain 🇪🇸 and the people.

[auburn]

My observations having lived in Spain for a short time and returning often:
If you eat paella in the tourist areas, the sound of bells ringing is paella dishes coming out of the microwaves and they were made with the prepackaged rice from the non existent local Madrid Piggly Wiggly. Disgusting. Go off the beaten path for the better paella.
Many Americans don't know that Spain is in Europe.
Many Americans believe that Spaniards eat Mexican food.
Many Americans believe that the peoples of Mexico and Central and South America are "Spanish" people. Wrong!
People incorrectly believe that Spaniards drink A LOT of sangria.
People think that Spain is warm year round. I've seen snow up to my eyeballs in Pamplona in the winter.
I was asked if they had running water there. I refer you to the great aqueduct of Segovia.
I was asked if people live in mud huts.

Thanks for this video and for keeping people informed.

[alanwiltshire]

The Spanish health service is excellent. Within 7 hours of walking into an emergency centre I was taken to my third hospital by ambulance and a surgeon immediately fitted a stent, solving my cardiac issues. Since returning to the UK the NHS has been nothing but complementary of my treatment and have not modified my medication plan set in Huelva.

[msvideotime]

I just got back from Spain I visited Barcelona and the beaches there also Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla oh my gosh the most amazing beautiful medieval walls, town churches monuments, towers etc. the food was excellent I will most definitely go back and visit Spain again or even live there people were nice and friendly. I just wish I would’ve bumped into you guys

[jamesf]

You want food paella? Don't get it in Madrid or Barcelona...get it from Valencia. This city is really a hidden gem of Spain. They have some great history, the beaches are so wonderful, the weather is pretty spectacular, not really any pickpocketing, and they may have the best paella. It's supposedly where it all started. Very good food

[juvenalsdad]

The smoking thing has definitely changed a lot. When I first came to Spain in the 1970's, I got the impression that it was compulsory!

[MallorcaUnderTheSun]

The quality of your videos is just incredible. Packed full of great info, fantastically presented, great mix of humour too and killer editing! Love you guys! Ps. Many of my daughter’s friends here in Mallorca don’t eat any veg and barely eat fruit!! No cases of scurvy just yet ! I say yet…

[davidzhan]

I was born in Spain but my family is not originally from here. I used to hate paella because the only ones I had tried were the ones we had in school (terrible pre-over-cooked rice) and in these touristic locations. The first time I actually tried a good paella wasn't too long ago, maybe 4-5 years ago when I was already a teenager having lived my entire life in Spain.

Also, there actually a reason why it is quite hard to find good places for paellas or any kind of Spanish rice dish. A paella is very time consuming; apart from all the mise en place consisting of cleaning seafood and meats, making the stock which can take hours, and cutting all the vegetables that might be needed, although the rice takes 18 minutes to cook, you need one cook exclusively working on a single paella for 15 minutes making the sofrito before adding the rice, and this stove is occupied for more than half an hour for one single table. Plus, restaurants that aren't specialized in arroces probably don't have a stove made for paelleras, which makes the job hundred times easier because it cooks the rice evenly so there's no need to move the paellera every now and then. Furthermore, a good seafood paella (arguably the most popular one) needs high quality ingredients for it to be actually good, so it tends to be very expensive.

I now make arroces at home once or twice a month. It's very fun to cook paella for family and friends and it's cheaper to buy the ingredients yourself, which allows me to buy nice and fresh seafood and safran. That's why every time a friend comes visit Spain from abroad, I invite them to have my paella first to avoid the paella disappointment.

[JanG_GC]

I've just discovered your channel recently (while getting over excited about my upcoming trip to Spain in Sept/October). You two are great! Hubby and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary with a trip to Cadiz, Granada and Nerja. Can't wait. We've only been to Catalunya so far so are really excited to see some more of your wonderful country. Thanks for all the hints and tips in your videos. Many I knew (I like to read/research/learn some words beforehand) but having them rooted in your experiences (and seeing the places and people ) at the same time adds so much. I know following you is going to add so much to my experience. Thank you!😁

[margaretalmodovar]

Enjoy your channel very much. My daughter moved to Barcelona 12 yrs ago. So, I have traveled throughout Spain quite a bit. First time we went to BCN I asked to see a flamenco show. My Catalonian friends looked at me like I had three heads. Northern regions are so different from the southern area. Almost like being in different countries.

[MrWalter]

Great! As a German guy. living since 1999 close to Barcelona I 100% confirm all your comments and many more! Great video again, thank you very much!

[abby]

Whoever thought Spain in underdeveloped, definitely has an underdeveloped brain, like seriously dude.

[ashleymarkrhodes]

For good paella, eat it in Castellon, Valencia and Alicante provinces: particularly in arrocerías or small towns. Cullera and El Palmar (Valencia) are great options. It's not really an evening meal, though tourists seem to think it is.
Fideos is a good alternative, if properly done.
Very good series of video-well done!

[Outspoken.Humanist]

You've done it again 😁 You never let us down.
I am a little surprised that people still have these misapprehensions but I guess, if you have never been, how can you know?
One extra mistake of which I am aware is thinking of Spain as a monoculture. Some of the regional differences are profound. Incredibly, in the 21st century, I still have Catalan friends who only use Castellano when absolutely necessary.

[cachachu]

AHH I'm Spanish (from Madrid, maybe the best city in the word), living temporary in the US for work and the more I see your videos, the more I want to come back!

[uateva]

Yeah, it breaks my heart every time I see tourists sitting in front of the sort of sorry excuse for a paella that is served in most places in tourist areas. I’d encourage everyone to leave bad reviews on Trip Advisor, Google maps etc. It’s the only way these people will learn. But, if it’s your first one, how do you know you got a “fake” paella? Well, if you didn’t LOVE it there’s a very good chance you got fleeced. A well made paella is indisputably delicious.

Honestly, these restaurants should be fined by local authorities for giving our food such a bad reputation abroad, not to mention providing unsuspecting visitors with such a terrible experience.

[elenadevueltadetodo]

Casa Botín is currently considered a restaurant, but It was originally a "casa de comidas" (no menú, you only could eat what was cooked on the day). The first restaurant (with menú, tablet clothes, etc) was Lhardy that I encourage to visit to have at least a consomé and to admire its marvellous ancient atmosphere; it's by Puerta del Sol.
Many of critical polítics were discussed and decided within its salons

[Alejojojo]

Most people dont know that Paella is a very local dish from the mediterranean coast of Spain. It has become popular all over the country (and abroad) of course, but it's more of a "summer dish" and even then you barely eat it (maybe once or twice a month in summer? depends on the family or the person). It also takes like 2 to 3 hours or more to cook. So it's not a daily dish. So, for me the most authentic spanish dish is the Tortilla de Patatas. You can find one in every local bar. That's common dish in all spanish houses and you can find it in any corner of the country. Paella for some reason has become the most well known dish abroad but it's not (for me at least) our national dish.

[martar]

It is true that good paella is difficult to find in restaurants, even for locals. We always say that best paellas are cooked at home, if you know how to... And it is a difficult dish to cook. It probably takes a lifetime to master paella cooking for most people! The best rice I remember I have tasted was in Casa Elías, which is located inland in Alicante, in a small town called El Xinorlet. It was a rabbit and snails paella cooked with grapevine wood. Delicious! I heard Casa Elías now cooks paella for Mar Mía restaurant in Madrid. Qué bonita está Lucía, by the way 🤗