Tid Bits

As a way to practice my Spanish, I read the local newspapers every day. It’s good practice. There was an interesting article this week about immigration in Spain. I knew that Spain actually was looking for immigrants within recent years, as it does not have youth due to low birth rates during the past few decades. Spain now is the number two country in the world, trumped only by the US, as having the highest percentage of immigrants in the population. 9.9% of Spain is now immigrants, which translates into just over 45 million people. The article disappointingly was short, and therefore did not get into detail of the country origin of the immigrants, but from what I recollect from my Spanish classes last year, I believe that Spain attracts many South Americans (who by the way are rather offended if you do not call them Americans). Thus, everyone in Spain still speaks Spanish, so despite the sky-rocketing influx of immigrants, language is not an obstacle that commonly needs to be hurdled.

Another interesting headline was there is one bar for every 123 Spaniards. Which means there quite a few bars in these parts. The statistic does not actually surprise me too much, as it is very apparent that there are numerous bars on every block here. Looking on my bedroom window, I can see at least three. Bars here have much more of a café environment and serve food during the day before the drinks at night. They are a common destination for a casual afternoon rendezvous or a quiet night out. Mind you they certainly have their clubs and rowdy bars as well, but their bar scene is much more part of their culture than it seems to be in America.

Also, changing gears again, the presence of religion here is continually something that I am struggling to understand. The president of France, who is undergoing a divorce, is a huge scandal; yet Spain is apparently become less Catholic every year. It is slowly becoming a melting pot of Religions, much like every country is becoming. The ease of travel and accessibility I’m beginning to believe not only allows travelers to learn about new cultures, but leave a part of their culture behind. Corny, but I’ve been taking footprint pictures of all the places that I’ve traveled, to capture a piece of me that I left behind everywhere that I went. As strong as every culture seems to be, and as traditional as they claim they are, all the cultures in Spain are undergoing changes. Bilbao is the perfect example. It still has its traditional roots in the old city called Casco Viejo; the city itself however, is incredibly modern. I was talking to one of my professors about how the Bilboians (natives from Bilbao) feel about this, and she said though they appreciate the convenience of the city, many still wish that it reflect more of their roots and traditions. I’m not quite sure how an older city would exemplify this better, but apparently it was a major issue that was addressed before the renovations to the city occurred. The metro and the Guggenheim are two aspects that were highly debated; both of which I’ll be going to tomorrow.