Spanish in Spain… Really!
Would you believe it – Spanish people here in Benidorm! Well an 81-year-old grandmother from Blackburn in Lancashire claims that her dream holiday to Benidorm was ruined because “the hotel was full of Spanish holidaymakers” which by the end of her two-week stay left her in tears…. but it gets even better.
She asked, “Why can’t the Spanish go somewhere else for their holidays?” Well it really does defy belief and I can honestly say that people like that really should have their passports confiscated. Living in Blackburn is hardly the epitome of white middle class England.
A recent Panorama program claimed that the society there is ‘divided’ with a distinct contrast between ethnic groups due to segregation. Perhaps Freda should have looked closer to home and popped across to Blackpool instead, rather than coming to Spain, a real foreign country... I wonder whether she voted to leave in the referendum – in fact, I am surprised that this important fact wasn’t revealed by The Sun in an in depth interview! A fact of today is that Britain is no longer full of British people.
In her eyes, they obviously have no right to be in their own country! She also claims, in her rant to the media that a Spanish guy was rude and nearly knocked her flying then just walked off without even apologizing and that “the entertainment in the hotel was all focused and catered for the Spanish”.
She has demanded a full refund or free trip from Thomas Cook – you really couldn’t make it up, claiming that she was mis-sold her holiday. However, online and in the bro- chure it clearly states, “Popular with Spanish holidaymakers, most activities and entertainment (both daytime and evening) will be in Spanish. Unless she is illiterate, that really should have been a light bulb moment!
The only concession I will allow her is that she informed the travel agent that she had mobility issues and wanted somewhere flat. This hotel is on a slight incline and there were 42 steps down to the pool area. The problem now is that travel agents most probably haven’t personally been to each hotel that they offer in their brochures, so reliant on the information provided, which may well be out of date or not even available. At the end of the day, they want to sell you a holiday.
The hotel in question was on the Poniente side, which is traditionally more popular with the Spanish guests, but by no means excludes other nationalities. It is also quieter on that side in comparison to the more raucous Levante.
You have to know which area suits your needs and requirements. Mind you, that doesn’t mean she was looking for quiet – I bet she would have been the last woman standing at Café Beach night… advanc- ing years doesn’t equal being sensible.
Most of the meals are served buffet style – with all the usual suspects you’d imagine. It is hardly inspiring but acceptable – most of the dishes tasting the same in my opinion, the requisite salad bar but there is almost certainly that great British staple always available – chips! What was she expecting?
I have actually had breakfast at the hotel in question – Poseidon Playa as a guest of someone staying there and it was perfectly adequate, with a selection of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, yogurt etc. Whichever hotel you are staying in, the buffet style pick your own hardly varies.
Perhaps Freda should have opted for bed and breakfast and headed down to J&J’s for her meals, where it would probably have suited her palate better. However, that particular hotel is literally right on the beachfront – you just have to cross over the main road and you’re there – 50 metres or less.
Brits in general tend to stick to the Levante side, but sadly it is becoming somewhat overrun with stag and hen groups, so more and more are drifting into the old town and down to La Cala.
However, it must be remem- bered that the Spanish star ratings are not comparable with the British ratings – personally, I would say they are one star less so a Spanish 3 star is actually more comparable to a British 2 star. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but people’s expectations are probably higher, then they are left feeling rather disappointed.
Rather embarrassingly, this story as well as hitting all the British press has also now appeared in the Spanish media, including El País – and well, you can just imagine the reaction of the Spanish! We as fellow Brits are shocked and embarrassed by her outburst and it has just added fuel to the fire of Spaniards’ perceptions of us ‘guiris” – the term they use to describe us foreigners.
It is one-step forward, two or three steps back in trying to repair our tarnished image through their eyes.
You just have to laugh it off really but Freda did say she had holidayed in Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Tenerife before – surely, they were full of Greeks, Turks, Portuguese and Spanish?