“When I started working with Spanish people I could not get my head around the 2hr lunch break, lunch would be a 3 course meal accompanied by wine, and then go back to the office / site and work to 8pm, I was used to eating a sandwich on the go, getting the job done and getting home at a reasonable hour. We learnt two things about each other very quickly, don’t ring an English person after 6pm and don’t ring a Spaniard between 1-3pm!"
“Many of my Spanish and Portuguese colleagues are initially disbelieving of the high standard expected by our clients and UK Health and Safety legislative requirements and often appear even more incredulous when they are enforced by the client’s team, government agencies as well as my team.”
“And I think that there is a kind of behaviour in Spain that the longest you work and stay at work the better employee you are. Directors and Managers work longer hours which make (us) subordinates to do same may be because of fear to leave job early. Luckily my manager is English and they usually finish on time.”
“English people can seem overly polite in everyday situations. For example, when I was living and working in Spain in my year abroad the other teachers and I would go to the nearest café on our breaks to have a chat and get a coffee and a bite to eat. Every time someone brought me something, I asked for something, ordered anything, opened the door for someone, I would say please and thank you and one of the teachers told me off as they said it could come across as arrogant and annoying! (…) It was very difficult to adjust to and I came back with the same behaviours after being so used to it and my paren
“The Spanish are a lot more hierarchical than the UK workforce and an employee would be frowned upon if they are seen to be navigating their immediate line manager.”
"I have found through working in the Spanish business culture, that solutions to difficult problems and project situations are carefully thought out and a lot more patience is shown with regards to developing the right approach to resolve difficult issues. ”