So I’ve been in Madrid for over 3 weeks now and there are a lot of things I happened to learn on my own that no one happened to tell me. It wasn’t until I discussed with one of my friends who’s been in Madrid since January, that I realized these unspoken rules that I had experienced were actually a thing.
First off, when on an escalator, always go to the right side to leave space on the left for when people want to walk up or down. I didn’t realize this until after 3 times when I would stand on the left and a person was trying to get by me. They were nice about it though!
Second, stop apologizing. My Spanish professor says that we are the “I’m sorry” American generation. He said we like to apologize for everything and it shows. Here in Madrid, if you bump into someone or accidentally hit them, it is not necessary to apologize. I realized that after I must have bumped into people on the metro and street about 50 times and no one replied to my I’m sorry. In the beginning when I didn’t realize that, I used to get annoyed when someone would bump into me and not apologize. But I understand why now and I no longer get annoyed!
Third, don’t say “yo mucho caliente” although caliente means you’re hot (weather wise), it insinuates that you are horny. I remember saying this to my host mom and she looked at me and said “calore, tú mucho calore” and it wasn’t until my friend told me why, I had realized I’d been telling people that I was horny. Definitely NOT what I was intending hahaha.
Lastly, don’t say por favor. People don’t really say that Spanish word, which means please, here a lot. It’s not that Spanish people aren’t polite. They are, but it’s just not as common as you’d think.
I hope you enjoyed the unspoken rules!!!
–Mo, the Adventurer
The Adventures of Mo 