Hello to everyone!
I have a question:
One thing that I have noticed from canadians and americans (especially in the youth) is that getting drunk is a very popular (unfortunately) hobby. When people go out clubbing or are hosting a party, it's like they HAVE to get drunk...or else they won't dance or can't have a good time. How are the spaniards in this (people in their 20's)? Is getting drunk seen differently in Spain? I sure hope so...sure, one can drink...but man there is a limit!
thanks guys!

Hello fellow Canadian

As a Canadian who has been to (and adores) Madrid, Spain, I'll try to answer your question

It is not seen as cool in Spain to be stumbling around drunk...

When Spaniards go for Tapas...they drink alcohol and WITH FOOD...

Unlike some Canadians and Americans (mostly teens) who purposely drink on an empty stomach to drunk quicker...then get sick (how much fun it that )

Then again, there is always the infamous BOTELLON.

When at 17-y-o I went to spend my senior year of H.S. in Ohio, I had been going to discos where I could drink alcohol when I wanted from the time I was 13th., first in Zaragoza then in Madrid; the legal age to do so was 16 back then, but there were certain discoteques popularly known as "discotecas del chupete" ("discos for pacifier users" ), that me and my friends frequented not because they were the kind of discos that exist nowadays that have special early evening sessions for pre-teens; simply because they totally turned a blind eye to how very young some of us were!
Having said that, in the US I was surprised at several things about this matter; you couldn't drink nor go to pubs/clubs until you were 21!!!, boys and girls were indeed quite concerned and made elaborate plans to figure out how to get their next beer, at house parties some drank so much there was always somebody getting sick, etc....
Personally, I adapted to the very different lifestyle of going to watch and cheer for my friends at football/basketball/hockey/softball/baseball games and then for pizza (breadsticks for me, thanks! ), instead, and didn't miss the 'cubatas' and 'San Franciscos', I was used to have, I was actually, along with the athletes, one who could attend a party, not have a single cooler and not be totally bummed out about it;....the only thing I could never cope with and that I'll never comprehend with was the city having a curfew!!! (sorry, but that didn't feel like living in a free country to me! )
What I'm trying to say is, what's forbidden becomes way more attractive in the eyes of folks.
I believe a reasonable 16-18 age limit for responsible alcohol intake would turn it into just another option, a possibility, something that is there and you can or can't do, and not seem so "vital"....and I can tell you, I suspect the possibility to go to discos before 21 reduces drastically sexual activity amongst young teen-agers!

I could be wrong, but this has been my experience.

Does the legal drinking age very between Autonomous Communities in Spain ?

Here in Canada, the legal drinking/bar entering age is 18 or 19, depending on the Province you live in...

I hope I can (possibly) shed some light on this situation since I'm an American college student living in Spain...

Here in Madrid, I have seen my fair share of VERY intoxicated foreigners (yes, mostly Americans, etc.) but I have also seen quite a few intoxicated Spaniards. This may be because I live in a neightborhood that is more university-oreinted, but I have definitely seen Spanish students with their big bottles of fanta and whatever else, walking down the street passsing the bottle back and forth. My opinion is that the drinking occurs rather frequently among the Spanish university students, but they also seem to be much more able to control themselves and not get obnoxious like so many of my fellow Americans do. This is probably a result of being able to have the privilege to consume alcohol from a much earlier age...more time to handle it with maturity...

Funny though, because I came to Madrid with the idea that I would be getting away from the random house/apartment parties like there are back at my American university. I was funnily surprised when the second weekend at school one of my fellow exchange students (from Belgium!) held a huge, loud party at her apartment...if it weren't for the 5 or 6 different languages being spoken, I would have thought I was right back at an American fraternity party...

Heidigirl, I've moved your topic here to the "About Spain" forum as it deals mainly with the customs of Spaniards.

By the way, I've YET to see a drunken Spaniard.

Saludos, MadridMan

I think both cultures enjoy a good time (US and Spain), but this is a rather large generalization. Sure, the legal limits placed on American youths make many youngsters power drink while in high school and college but let's not assume that is a practice only in the States. I remember back to my high school days, we had one Basque student get alachol poisning and had to have his stomach pumped on one occasion. Not to throw and stones here, but I hark back to my college times when I was at the running of the bulls, it seemed like the vast majority of passed out tourists had Australian flags on them. No crime in that, I love a good time as much as the next.

I have seen plenty of young Spaniards stumbling drunk late at night/early in the morning. And I've seen plenty of Aemricans, Danes, French, Italians, Greeks etc doing the same thing. As long as they don't bother me I say, ENJOY.

I've studied in Sevilla and Salamanca and now live in Madrid, and I've seen PLENTY of drunk Spaniards in all 3 places. When I was in Salamanca I never hung out with foreigners, only Spaniards, and it was very common for them to go out Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and often end up drunk. I was the only one in the group who hardly ever drank. Here in Madrid I've even seen young people making and drinking "calimochos" (wine and coke) on the Metro!!

My husband, who is Spanish, has also told me that during his student days he and his friends would go out and drink every weekend often to the point of throwing up at the end of the night. Of course he always told his very naive mother that he threw up because the "bocadillo de tortilla" that he ate on the way home must have been bad

Of course it's not only the college students who get drunk--I've also seen a lot of "older" drunk Spaniards. However, I think the older people normally only get drunk on special occasions like at weddings or at the local "fiestas del pueblo"--where the entire village is drunk.

The thing that bothers me is what Chica pointed out--the Botellón. It's technically illegal but still going strong. There's a park behind my apartment building and every Sunday it's totally disgusting because the teenagers drink out in the park and then leave the plastic cups, wine boxes and Coke bottles all over the place.