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Britain, British people, British people abroad, Civilisation, Clean, Culture, Defend the modern world, Learn from, london, Multiculturalism, Muslims, Spain holidays, Spain vs England, Spain weather, Streets, Trains, UK, UK US
I’ve been working in Northern Spain for more than 4 months now. I shall be returning to England very shortly and so in the past weeks I’ve been thinking about how this country compares to my own. There are many things the UK gets right that Spain gets wrong, but to list these would be impolite to my hosts. Here instead are four things Spain does that Britain should do too…
1. Build Real Cities.
One of the greatest failures of modern British planning is the way the capital city has been allowed to dwarf the rest of the country economically, culturally and politically. The 2nd city of Britain is a glorified housing estate. The 3rd city (Manchester) is merely a scaled down version of London. Below that, most English cities are simply large towns.
Compare this to Spain, where at least 5 cities – Bilbao, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Seville – qualify as ‘major’. This gives Spain a wonderful balance, something sorely lacking the UK.
2. Cook Real Food.
British cuisine is an international punchline. To deny this only makes the laughter more emphatic. Spanish cuisine is simple, yet wonderfully varied. Let’s add more seafood to our diet. It extends your lifespan and is immeasurably more delicious than chips.
3. Don’t Fight High-Speed Railways.
There is currently a very silly controversy raging in Britain regarding the construction of a high-speed rail link between Birmingham and London. While I don’t know of many reasons why a Londoner would wish to go to Birmingham, high speed trains are an essential part of a modern national infrastructure. Don’t fight the future. It always wins.
4. Lift the 5pm Shutters.
There is no reason for society to shut down at 5pm. It is depressing, anti-social and economically destructive. If you want young Brits to stop getting drunk in parks, put pressure on businesses to stay open longer. In Spain, the happy part of the day begins when ours finishes.
D, LDN.
Defend the Modern World 
Si, Spain spins.
Spain is also at the bottom of the European jihad nursery league table, with only 1.5 openly psycopathic murderers joining the Islamic State per million. This may have something to do with its almost 800-year long war against Islamic occupation, and its robust treatment of ‘radical’ preachers such as Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of the Fuengirola mosque. In 2004, Mustafa was prosecuted and handed a sentence of 15 months for publishing a book, La mujer en el Islam (Women in Islam), which included passages from the Koran and explained how to beat up a woman without leaving any visible signs. The judge rightly described him as a “danger to society.”
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Yes, I think the Spanish understand the threat more than any other country. It’s ingrained in their culture. There are Spanish festivals which openly denigrate Islam and celebrate the victory of Christians.
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The Spanish TV news is practically like Jihad Watch, I’m watching it now. Around 50% every night on jihad. They’re showing Rajoy speaking about terrorism right now, IS destroying cultural artifacts, Moroccan foreign minister… bit of a difference from BBC cats stuck in trees
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I don’t agree that the HS2 controversy is silly. Spain, France, China are large countries by area they need better rail links much more than we do. HS2 will also not be a cutting edge rail link, it will cost a huge amount of money and an undemocratic country will profit from it. This is also the age of the internet, travel is just not so critical as it was.
I agree we need to be less London-focused, but maybe the best way of accomplishing this is to challenge benefits culture, and get more people back to work. Areas where old industries have declined have just been encouraged to wallow in their misfortune.
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I agree that we don’t need High Speed Rail as much as larger countries, but I do find British rail travel hopelessly slow and inefficient relative to the services of the continent.
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Fascinating to here a real debate about rail travel…
Here in Australia unfortunately any semblance of a high speed version is completely off the cards due to the long distances and poor cost benefits. Every ten years one of the major parties raises the prospect and in my lifetime, each time it is revived the cost has an additional zero on the cost.
The Greens party have campaigned on it for a number of years, claiming it will have a positive environmental impact. You can bet your bottom dollar they will switch camps though due to the exorbitant cost of land resumptions and general high construction costs in Australia. I have noted that you are an America-phile too DTMW, but outside of the largest cities in the US, there is really no such thing as effective (non-touristic) rail travel unless you are in the ACELA corridor from Boston to Washington. As Australians are: the Americans are a slave to their cars, and there is not really any going back.
What I envy about the Spanish lifestyle is the option of the general public to be able to go out late at night. Due to alcohol violence, closing hours and curfews on licensed venues continue to take a toll in our cities and entertainment precincts. I am flabbergasted that due to media campaigning – both sides of politics think it is good to heavily regulate all licensed premises due to alcohol fuelled violence. I understand the UK is slightly more liberal than even here on opening hours of clubs…
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Hi Freemanski,
Thanks for your comment. I’m surprised to hear the Australian Green Party back high rail there. Here. the Greens are fanatically opposed.
Yes, America has a way to go on rail travel too. However, unlike England, America has the will-power to push a project of that kind through.
Spain’s nightlife is simply charming. I’ve had wonderful evenings here.
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