The Spanish are warm and generous with both a sense of personal and national pride. The older spaniards still "paseo" in the finest clothes of an evening. In towns they may sweep the pavement outside their own front door and have brightly painted houses with decorative flowers displayed outside.
The younger generation love football and going out, they love the latest mobile phones and facebook but they also observe many of the traditions which have been handed down. They will meet at least once a week for a family meal, either at home or at a local eatery and the meal will often include the whole family, from possibly great grand-parents to the great grand-children.The meal will be loud as it seems everyone speaks at once. In fact the spanish will readily strike up conversation anywhere even going as far as to stop a car in traffic to say hi to someone!The openess of the spanish is shown by how they greet people, with a kiss to each side of the face and a shake of the hand.
There are down sides to their relaxed nature however as nearly everyone is late for an appointment or doesn't bother to turn up at all (particularly trades people) and as has been mentioned earlier they are sticklers for formality of paperwork. This goes back to Francos' time and is something you must get used to. Always keep all paperwork it is impossible to resolve any matters without it.
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