One of my favourite teachers Jone has, with one month left
to go, finally gone on maternity leave, which means that for my last month in
Spain I’ll be working with a substitute teacher in one of the schools. Luckily,
the new teacher’s absolutely lovely, but she’s highlighted the difference for
me between personal space in Britain and Spain i.e. in Spain the concept doesn’t
exist. While in Britain it’s generally accepted that there’s an invisible line
surrounding us which people rarely ever enter, in Spain that’s not the case.
People will get so close to you when they’re talking that you can actually feel
their breath on your skin, which can be quite overwhelming at first as you
have to constantly fight the urge to move away. Also, when in conversation it’s
not unusual for the Spanish to touch or grab your arm after every other sentence, and look directly into your eyes for the whole 10 minutes that they’re speaking
to you, leaving you quite self-conscious throughout.
Personal space invasion isn’t just limited to conversations
with people you vaguely know, it also happens on public transport where
people will almost sit on top of you making for a very uncomfortable journey, and
queues where people will literally be standing on you. Coming from Britain
where the closest we’ll get to personal contact with an acquaintance is perhaps
a handshake this was all a bit of a shock, and has forced me to reassess my own
personal space barrier.
I love how tactile the Spanish are, and they’re definitely
very welcoming, but the British concept of personal space seems to be something
I just can’t shake. Whenever someone comes too close in conversation I always
find myself backing away, and when they creep forward I back away once more. I always
imagine I’m doing this subtly, but in reality taking 3 steps backwards within one minute of talking is
probably very obvious and rude.
Another concept which I also struggled with at first was the
two kiss rule. Never before have I kissed someone to say hello unless it was
family, so kissing complete strangers was new to me. However, I’ve found that
the unwritten rule that you must kiss everyone you’re introduced to, whether
you know them or not, has removed a lot of awkwardness from greetings. In
Britain, kissing is optional, as is hugging, handshakes, or even a wave hello. Therefore,
in social situations no one ever really knows what to do, but in Spain everyone
ALWAYS go for the two kisses.
This article perfectly sums up how awkward us Brits find
greetings, which is definitely something I’m not missing this year.
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