what to wear

We are going to Spain to sight see and play golf. We are planning alot of black and washable sports wear and athletic shoes (for the most part) and my husband does wear very nice golf caps...is that such a no-no..????connie

I'm sure that on the Costa del Sol, for example, you'll see lots of people wearing sport shoes and golf hats. Golf hats? Really?

I'm not so sure how well you'd fit in in the northern, non-Golfing zones though. Well, just be comfortable and don't worry about it. Is it more important to be comfortable or to "melt" in with everyone else while on vacation? Sometimes you can do both but not always.

You'll see people wearing track suits and tennis shoes, even older men if they're soccer aficionados, but rarely will you see non-Spaniards like this.

Have fun! Saludos, MadridMan

Golf in Spain was not what we expected. The best use of our golf bag was to transport a sword back to the US!!

Golf is a game which is being developed primarily for tourists. It is NOT part of the culture!! If you like tourist golf and big resorts, it will be okay, but it was our only 'disappointment' during last summer's 6 week stay. There are so many wonderful things to do in Spain that it is a shame to spend much of your time golfing.

Couldn't agree with you more, Sel. DEFINITELY something for tourists. With the exception of Sergio García and... ummm.. Vallasteros (??) it's not all that popular with the GREAT majority of Spaniards. Hmmm.. Kind of like here in the USA!

So what do you all think? Will the husband be frowned upon for wearing his golf hat with the fuzzy ball on top to the local tapas bars in, say, Barcelona? heehehe..

http://www.GolfSpain.com/

Severiano Balesteros and Sergio certainly are exceptions!!!

As for clothing, almost anything goes in the golf region of the south, but hats and caps are seldom seen. Barcelona....well that is another story!!

I wonder how long it will be until baseball caps hit Spain.

Connie.....What time of year will you be there and what courses are you hoping to play while you are in Spain?

Truthfully, speaking for myself and certainly not for my husband...This is my 2nd trip to Spain and his first and he thinks this is like our Scotland, Ireland and England golf trips...big NOT! We have played all the British Open Courses and most of the Ryder Cup courses in history and Valdorama is one we have missed and we will play it on this trip but MY main focus, and soon to be hubby's focus...will be on general tourism and enjoying seeing their culture. We arrive on Jan 31st and will go from Madrid to Toledo,La Mancha,Cartagena, Almeria, Granada,Marbella,Gibraltar,Cadiz Sevilla, Merida,Segovia and then back to Madrid and home on February 19th. If anyone sees any intinerary changes, please advise. So anyway...athletic suits are acceptable? I want comfort and be able to wash the clothes.

sel...baseball caps have hit Spain...usually accompanied by drunk American universitarios, unfortunately.

Connie: If you were traveling a little later in the year (spring and beyond) I would recommend Santander for some golf. Seve's course is up that way [Santa Marina], and a little less crowded with foreign kooks than what you'll no doubt find down south. Of course, I'm always partial to the northern communities of Cantabria, Euskadi, Asturias and Galicia...more character to me.

Obviously weather is a concern in January-February up north, as it's probably akin to playing a late British Open at St. Andrew's...bring your paraguas and your rain suit!

connie pebble-leidy wrote: Ummm... unless you LOOK and SOUND like a Spanish man and a fútbol fan, I'd say track/athletic suits are not acceptable. These put a big TOURIST stamp on your forehead, I'm afraid. Sorry. Any other suggestions by travelers about easy wash-and-wear clothing?

Saludos, MadridMan

Thank you so much for the golf course names...with those two and Valdarama, I feel that is enough golf for that vacation...but for the clothes, guess we will stick to slacks, shirts and sweaters and walkable shoes. I will wait on the head-wear until we arrive and purchase whatever will make us look un-touristy. I always have two rain suits in my bag.

I would say that for out-and-about pret-a-porter clothing, those REI convertible hiking pants work well. They look like khakis, wear like rain pants, and wash up incredibly easy (not to mention drying in a snap).

Out and about, easy to wash---matte knit dresses, black (or another solid color)! Short sleeves, with a cardigan just in case. TravelSmith and LLBean have good ones. You can wash them yourself in the sink or tub, and they dry without wrinkles.

Not to sound like an ad, but here are a couple just so you can see what I am talking about:

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/st ore...3=&sale=yes

(MadridMan says: Sorry taravb! I tried to make your second link clickable but instead just made things worse and just removed it. Feel free to remove my words here in parenthesis and repost just the URL and people can copy-n-paste it into their browsers. Sorry!)

Add a pair of dressy sandals and you can go out at night--and with a pair of comfortable walking shoes, you are fine for day! You'll still look like a tourist (no avoiding that!), but you won't stand out the way you might in athletic wear.

Spainards are more formal than people from the USA, for example, no nightclub will allow you in without real leather footwear (non-sneakers), slacks, no jeans, teeshirts, sport shirs, etc., and definitely NO athletic wear! Otherwise, we dress pretty much like people from the US (calling yourselves "Americans," by the way is very insensitive, and rather ignorant, you aren't the only "Americans" so it can be rather ambigous), and the brands, styles, etc. are (lamentably) those you will find back "home," due to the globalization and gobbling up by the (US)corporate machine. The same comment goes for many things in the culture, like (my G-d!) music, for example.

Be that as it may, it also means you can purchase a pair of Levis, for example, and wear them without unduly sticking out like a sore (blue) thumb. Sizes are different, being metric. Toothpaste, and other food items are well stocked in US brands in the supermercados, especially in Corté Ingles, the huge department store chain. The Spainards have had the good sense to retain their vino, chorizos, pan, tortialls, churros, chocolaté caliente, jamón and other necessities of life, so you won't be deprived of the good (Spanish) life.

Dig into it with both hands!
¡Saludos!