r/AskEurope • u/Remote_Button_7802 • 1d ago
Culture What is something that French people and Spaniards have in common?
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u/DistinctScientist0 Spain 1d ago
Terrace culture. In both countries the preferred default at a café or bar is to sit outside when socialising.
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u/NuclearMaterial Ireland 1d ago
Helps when it isn't pissing down all year like in Ireland and lots of the UK. We prefer huddling indoors in pubs.
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u/laluLondon 1d ago
Belgium has a terrace culture and it rains a lot. From my experience, it feels like it rains more in Brussels than in London.
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u/NuclearMaterial Ireland 1d ago
I wasn't including the southeast of England in that "most of the UK." Scotland and parts of Wales would have as much rain as Ireland.
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u/laluLondon 1d ago
It rains more in Brussels than in Dublin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_average_precipitation
Cardiff and Belfast have more rain, but still, it rains enough to demonstrate it's not just the rain stopping terrace culture.
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u/synalgo_12 Belgium 1d ago
I do feel like terrace culture really amped up due to covid in Belgium. I know that in Antwerp they loosened the rules for getting an outdoor seating license during lockdown and even though those have been dialed back there are still so many more (winter) terraces than there used to be.
I remember living in Barcelona for a while in 2011/2012 and coming back and having reverse culture shock about the lack of outdoor seating. Now the gap is a lot smaller.
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u/Many-Gas-9376 Finland 1d ago
The Finnish tradition of kalsarikänni removes the whole hassle of going out in the first place.
Pantsdrunk (stylized as Päntsdrunk; Finnish: kalsarikännit, ˈkɑls̠ɑriˌkænːitⓘ) is a form of drinking culture, originating in Finland, in which the drinker consumes alcoholic drinks at home dressed in very little clothing, usually underwear, with no intention of going out.
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u/NuclearMaterial Ireland 1d ago
Sounds like my average Friday night in the summer when it was too hot.
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u/xander012 United Kingdom 19h ago
Also both of our countries have a strong affinity to the black stuff.
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u/stepp_back_a_bit 18h ago
if the rain stopped in ireland for more than a day we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves out there
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u/Any-Republic-4269 1d ago
Sitting outside has definitely become more French in the UK in the last, well, forty years
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u/IndianSummer201 18h ago
I think a lot of countries in Europe have terrace culture. Definitely big here in the Netherlands.
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u/Viva_il_Panificio 1d ago
Not serious answer:
They're both western democracies based on the rule of law and basic principle of equality of all human beings. They share a very long history, from the ancient Romans to Christianity, Enlightenment and more. They also, happy or not, share a great deal of the future.
Actual answer:
Absolutely nothing! The French eat frogs! And the Spaniards throw goats off buildings!
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u/davidptm56 Spain 1d ago
You made me remember I haven't thrown my goat from the bell tower today. Thank you, kind stranger!
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u/GabrielaM11 1d ago
A serious commitment to long meals, good food, and treating eating as a social event rather than a chore
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u/Longjumping_Test_760 1d ago
Both countries supported Ireland both militarily and politically against England during the English occupation of Ireland.
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u/GN_10 England 1d ago
It was a British occupation, not an English one.
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u/Longjumping_Test_760 1d ago
The Anglo Norman invasion of Ireland was mid 1100’s and the formation of Great Britain was early 1700’s approx so I suppose one could divide the occupation into 2 phases.
The Normans who originally occupied originally were French or from French ancestry. The settled, intermarried and generally sided with the Irish against the English.
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u/Different_Dog5827 21h ago
Especially southern French are very similar to Spaniards! Love for food and sobremesa, caring for friends and family and they don’t have such individualist attitude which central and Northern Europeans have. Also they “holiday” in similar way
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u/juanvvc 1d ago
Crème brûlée/catalana. Both countries believe they are the original inventors and the other copied it.
Also, allioli. Same situation