Spain is still very much a country of neighbourhood shops, although unfortunately these local businesses are becoming few and far between as supermarkets have become the one-stop-shop for most Spaniards.
In fact, some young Spaniards have never even stepped into their local pescadería (fishmonger’s) or carnicecería (butcher’s), seeing it as stores for the older generations.
So it makes sense that a young woman recently went viral on TikTok after posting a video in which she spoke out about her “biggest fear as a semi-adult: not knowing how to shop at the butcher’s”.
Hace unas semanas una joven contó en las redes que su "mayor miedo" era no saber comprar en una carnicería tradicional.
— Telediarios de TVE (@telediario_tve) September 20, 2024
Los carniceros han iniciado una campaña para animar a los jóvenes a acercarse a los comercios de barrio.
? https://t.co/9wSRGQOvth pic.twitter.com/XIQ5S5NrSj
Thousands of other young and not-so young Spaniards owned up to their own ‘stage fright’ when it comes to recognising and buying food in these neighbourhood stores, especially when it isn’t labelled or prepackaged.
“At the fishmonger's I didn't know that salmon was sold whole. I asked for a salmon thinking it was a kilo, but he gave me the whole salmon (€64). I was embarrassed so I didn't say anything and took it away,” one user responded.
It’s a fear that many foreigners in Spain also have to overcome, although in the case of young Spaniards it has more to do with their lack of face-to-face contact than not knowing how to get out the words.
Butchers from every corner in Spain have responded by joining together through the association that represents them, CEDECARNE, to launch a video on social media to encourage millennials and Gen Z to interact with their shop owners in their barrios (neighbourhoods) and understand how weight, prices and cuts work.
READ ALSO: How to order your steak in Spain
“It’s hard to see anyone under 30 at Spain’s markets,” butcher Manuel Medina told national broadcaster RTVE.
“If parents don’t teach their children how to shop at these kinds of stores, the habits are lost,” fishmonger José Luis Alonso told the channel.
Although the viral video and its response is not headline news in Spain, it does serve as evidence of how el comercio de barrio (neighbourhood shopping) - part of the fabric of Spanish society - is dying.
Rents are going up whilst sales are going down, so it’s no surprise that in the last eight years 75,000 self-employed workers running small businesses have shut up shop for good.
In Madrid alone, 6,000 neighbourhood shops have closed in the past year, in many cases replaced by international franchises that don’t represent what makes this country and its people so great.
READ ALSO: 'Gentrified out of existence' - Madrid protest adds weight to Spain's anti-tourism wave
In other matters, one of the most unfair stereotypes about Spaniards is that they’re lazy and don’t work hard enough, a theory that’s been disproven by studies that show they grind just as much as their EU counterparts (between 40.3 and 40.4 hours a week).
Poor work conditions and low pay does mean that many Spaniards prioritise time with family and friends over extra hours at work as a means of staying happy.
READ ALSO: Does Spain really have a good-work life balance?
However, a 2015 study by the universities of Valencia, Castellón and the Basque Country argued that 11 percent of Spain’s working population would consider themselves workaholics by 2015.
That is unfortunately the latest data available for Spain, and the truth is that workaholism remains an unrecognised and unreported illness internationally.
Other research by German market research company Gfk found that it’s millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, who tend to be the most addicted to work, representing 43 percent of those admitting to spending too much time behind the desk.
According to Eurostat, 38 percent of self-employed workers with employees in Spain work on average 49 hours or more a week, a figure actually below that of Western European nations.
It still passes the threshold of 45 hours a week, one of the ‘symptoms’ of being a workaholic according to experts.
Nevertheless, 2024 EU data shows that Spain is the second EU country that’s managed to reduce the average work week the most since 2008.
All in all, it’s difficult to conclude whether Spaniards are working more, if the rate of workaholics is still growing, but what’s clear is that the cliché that Spanish people don’t work enough is certainly not true.
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