Spain For The English At Home

Spain, a country where you don’t need a spin dryer, and your sheets smell fresh without the aid of softeners or ozone killing chemicals. You wash them and hang them on a washing line to be dried by the sun and aired by the breeze. Where your food is fresh. You go to a market where there may be a touch of dirt on your vegetables, because it was in the ground yesterday and not transported from god knows where and stored in a dark warehouse for 6 months ready to rot within 48 hours of getting it home. Where there are no rubbish collections. You are expected to divide your waste and take it to the nearest waste collection bins, of which there are many within close proximity to your house. I have 3 within 200 metres of where I live. Be irresponsible and they might fine you. Perfectly acceptable as far as I’m concerned. The streets are cleaned every day and you can go out without walking on mountains of chewing gum and cigarette butts. Where children can go out and play football in the town square. Ride their bicycles, shout and run about. Where it’s always clean, and nobody sues anyone if their kid falls over. When it’s a bank holiday (of which there are many) the councils put on events for all ages so the people can celebrate the meaning of life and family together. The children are safe, their families are close and you won’t be frowned upon for having a glass of wine with your kids around. I never buy bread that is more than 6 hours old, and when I go to buy it I’m said hello to by at least 2 people I’ve never met before. I can help an old lady with her shopping without her recoiling in fear that I’m going to mug her. In fact, despite the fact that I’m a foreigner, she’ll go out of her way to make me feel her gratitude. So regardless of the fact I’m an alien here, I’ve never felt more at home. Sound like the country your parents grew up in. xx