Safety for Chinese?

Hello,

I will leave for Spain in a week. Any additional safety precaution for a solo chinese traveller in Spain. I think it's impossible for me to fake myself as a local!

Thanks.

It is impossible...just plan ahead with lots of common sense. Your situation is improved if your command of Spanish is admirable, "chinese-looking or not". You should find helpful people in normal, everyday situations, but be prepared for possible "profiling" at places like the airport, etc. Roll with it, and remember, although Spain has changed into a more diverse society in the last dozen years, the positions of power are still held, for the most part, by "Spaniards" (hoping you understand my point).

Enjoy your trip...and I'm sure you'll gain all sorts of insights for those in a similar situation in the future!

It is possible since we have a considerable Chinese comunity here. You will have to adapt to their way of dressing (not very elegant I must say) and leave in your hotel the big camaras and the maps. But yes if you dress like them you could pass as a local Chinese.

Andrés

Thanks. So I guess I wouldn't fake as a local chinese sucessfully.

And just curious can europeans and americans distinguish chinese, korean, japanese......

funny, i have been reading this message board the last two days and was planning to put up a message wondering if i (as a korean) would have any problems in spain. apparently phy has beaten me to the punch. I will be going to madrid for the first time at the end of september and plan to be there for a month to two months. I don't know the language well so i will be taking courses at don quijote. what should i expect from the locals. I did make friends from madrid a year ago but they were visiting the US.

I did a search under ethnic safety as this subject came up before reference both black and asian - the attached link will lead you to a number of threads - some more relevant than others - but many worth reading as far as general safety precautions are concerned. Hopefully, you will also be able to locate the specific thread I mentioned (I couldn't spot it quickly).

http://www.madridman.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Hi, I am currently in Spain. I will be here for 9 months(univ of sevilla). I came from madrid a few days ago. I would say that there are quite a few asians in madrid.I would caution you to be prepared for the staring that you might encounter. Madrid is a pretty progressive city and I found it easier to meet spaniards there. I am currently in the south of spain where there is some animosity towards black either because of the immigration or the the fact that some people have not gotten past the invasion of the moors.I am staying in a middle to upper middle class area with a senora. I have found that the stares come mostly from older people who sometimes look me up and down like I am nothing. The younger generation will be more interested in you. It is possible that you might not encounter anything at all. What is most important is that you appreciate the place. This past week has been a lot of fun we went from madrid to toledo, cordoba and now I am spending the rest of my time in sevilla. Good Luck!

MATADOR,

Moors were white northafricans, not blacks. Do you know how Zinedine Zidane look like?. The moors that came to Spain looked like him.

http://www.altosport.com/z/zinedine-zidane/pictures-2.html

http://www.altosport.com/cgi-bin/preview.pl?/z/zinedine-zidane/s-000133-im-001689.jpg,0,0,0

Phy, unfortunately, 99.9% of Spaniards won't distinguish between Chinese, Japanese and Korean people. We're still quite ignorant about asian cultures.

You'll be fine in Spain if you follow your common sense . You'll be here as a tourist and most asian tourist in Spain are japanese (an easy target for pickpocketers as they're consider ingenuous and with a high income).

Regarding blacks and moors, yes, ERT, you're right: moors that invaded Spain were as white as Zidane.
That would be another topic but I find the term "African-american" perfectly PC but highly inaccurate, refering to black people, as north africans (tunisian, algerians,...) are white. So if Zidane's family had inmigrated to America instead of France, would he also had been an African-American?

I hate to burst your bubble, but even though the moors were predominantly arab a large number were also black.Thi is from a reliable source who taught history formore that twenty years. My dad. I am in sevilla and I would say that many of the girls here have arabic features. I can say this after having been around many arab friends.

I would be surprised if you met with any hostility in Spain. That said, Spanish people do tend to stare at people who look physically different to them but I don´t think you need read anything sinister into this. Generally the Spanish are a kind and understanding people who will go out of their way to help you. If you do find yourself in a compromising situation or you feel ill at ease just walk away. Do try to learn as much Spanish as you can, the basic phrases being essential I think. Enjoy yourself!

The majority of the times a spaniard looks a black, chinese, korean or japanese is more curiousity than anything else. It is really hard to find this ethnias here (african blacks are now more common) so we are not used to find this people.

I speak in general... obviusly in the big cities we are more than used to it.

As everywhere, you may find racist people, "pasa de ellos" :p that is, disregard them, and try to enjoy the trip.

Fernando

To those of you with the Moors were only white theory... not exactly. Many spanards today (the majority) got our dark hair and hips from the moors, black and white, from oh so many, many hundreds of years ago. That would be the friendly spanish people mingling with everyone! But I think its made a rather nice mix! Although I wouldn't mind having blue eyes....

Espe --- I don´t know why but I always imagined you with blond hair and blue eyes....

Gosh, I´d hate to know how far off my other mental images of some of the other posters are!!

Hello!

I am now in Barcelona. People are 99.99% get used to asian tourists! Going to see if it is the same in the south.

Castiza, sometimes we asians cannot distinguish between ourseleves.

hello, phy!

hope you're having a great time at Barcelona!!!
i agree with you when you say that even asians can't distinguish among ourselves (me included!). for those who are interested, take the test at web page i know it's not related to the topic (sorry if i posted it in the wrong place), but it's quite funny!

I am in Madrid at present and there is a lot of Asians working and visiting. I do not think you will have any major problem, be careful though with your belongings etc. I hope you like Spain it is a lovely place.

Hi everyone,

I am now in madrid and I absolutely love it. I have had no problems yet (knock on wood). It is a little discouraging to see so many US stores in madrid. But after eating spanish food, mostly tapas, I think I´ll order a whopper from burger king just so i could do that line from Pulp Fiction. Although I´m getting nausious for thinking about burger king. Take care everyone.

Fourfats

I doubt that old moors could kick the football like Z.Zidane?
Looks aren't everything!!!!

You are right, looks are not everything, but being historically accurate is. And I for one am tired of individuals who distort history to serve their own ends. There are so many people in denial on this issue. Lets set the record straight and move on. By the way I believe the girls of sevilla turned out nicely. They are in i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e!

I just finished a two-week trip (Sep 17-29) trip to Spain with my wife. I am caucasian and she is Japanese. Well, she definitely got a lot more casual attention because of her looks. People tended to stare at her a bit because I think she is just rare there. There was no hostility, just benign curiosity. Safety, however, was never a concern because she was with me all the time.

Most Japanese, though, stick out like sore thumbs because they travel in tour groups and are quite gaudy, with their huge suitcases and Japanese fashion. They must be easy prey for the pickpockets and fast-talkers.

Hey PHY...I was in Spain for 3 weeks in September as an Asian, alone. I must say the only time I felt uncomfortable was in Madrid, whereas in Granada, Seville, and Barcelona I felt quite comfortable. The fact that I almost got mugged in Madrid during broad daylight outside the Prado Museum and being constantly reminded by waitresses, hotel reception, and people on the street that I need to watch out for my belongings most certainly put a deadend to the vacation mood. Since I started in Madrid, I thought I was doomed for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, the rest of the 3 weeks was much more pleasant and ending in Barcelona was simply marvelous. I have travelled alone/with friends through France/Germany/Switzerland/Amsterdam/Belgium and never ever felt unsafe like I did in Madrid. So despite the fact that I think this site is fantastic and found a ton of useful information before leaving, I must say that I fail to see the charm in Madrid. Hopefully I won't be removed from the site right after this post, but I think people need to hear different perspective/ experiences. WOuld go back to Barcelona in a blink, but never Madrid.

Picard-
I'm sorry you're experience in Madrid left you with such a negative image of Madrid. Its difficult for me to understand why people choose to dislike an entire city because of one bad experience. Things like that can happen anywhere at any time. As travelers we have to be cautious, and even then sometimes its not enough, but if its going to happen, its going to happen.

I wouldn't worry about getting kicked off the board, its not just about madrid, but all of spain, and as you said, people's experiences, positive or negative are always valued. I only hope that if you find yourself again in spain, and perhaps even in Madrid, you can give it another chance with an open mind. When one gets mugged or robbed or whatever, it takes some time to get over it and I hope your next experience will be a positive one. And if you really will never go again, well, there's plenty of other wonderful cities and things about Spain to enjoy!

Happy Travels!

One more point MATADOR to verify your view. The Moors that assisted Franco were very, very black as I have seen pictures of them. It must have been devastating during the Civil War to have black people attacking Spaniards. This is more likely what the older people cannot forget in southern Spain.

gazpacho,

There were never black moors in Spain. In fact the Moors were caucasian people 1200 years ago (now they are much more mixed). The small army composed of moors that had Franco was just a personal army (ie, bodyguards). The Moors that came to Spain in 711 looked like this:

Illustrations from Cantigas de Santa Maria, 13th century, reign of Alfonso X

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/cantigas/cant181ef.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/cantigas/cant181d.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/cantigas/cant181b.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/cantigas/cant099f.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/bayadriyad/bayad-y-riyad-5.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/moors.html

So the ones that say that the Moors that came to Spain were black they are just saying nonsenses. The Moors were pure caucausians.

Ok, ERT, here's to black moro's being nonsense. Check out the last link you set up, and scrool down until the pictures depicted are actually in color and lo and behold, a 'afrocentric' moor! :p

I'm not saying that all of the moros in spain at that time were black, and if you want to get into skin colors, well, they were darker than the spaniards at that time... arab people are darker skinned than 'white' people, and there were plenty of those around! I don't think any of us can get into how many of who was where, none of us were there! All I'm saying, and I know for fact, that Spain, be it the conquorer, or conquored, always mixed with the new people, and for the ones that stayed in spain, well, this is part of the reason our our features have evolved as you see them today.

So, no, its not nonsense. I'm just as sure of being spanish as I am that somewhere along the line I've got some link to the moores, as I do with the romans! Need I go on?

And just out of curiousity, what in the world is a 'pure' caucasion?! Personally, I don't think such a thing exists! I can prove it, and you know what I'm GLAD!

But you know, we're just talking about skin tones here, we're all people, so what's the big deal!?

I remember from my school days that almohads and almoravids were original from Sudan, and thus, were very very black. They were defeated by an alliance of christian and muslim spaniards though.

The original moors who invaded Spain were north-african, and thus, caucasian.

Fernando

ERT, I refer to Hugh Thomas' "Spanish Civil War" p. 373. "The Moors- Los Moros - had always been villains in Spanish fairy stories: they now became the focus of terror throughout southern Spain."
Some bodyguard. In the next sentence it refers to "1.000 were even killed at the small town of Almendralejo."

Hi Espe3
I didn't want to take up too much space whinning here, which is why I didn't go on to describe the many other "encounters" I had after the "incident" with rude waiters/unhelpful people. I agree that we have to be cautious while travelling, and believe me I was after reading the postings here, but perhaps my string of fun/safe travelling in many other places in Europe has to come to end at some point! And yes, I will go back to other parts of Spain, like Barcelona, in a heartbeat!

Yeah, and jesus christ had blond hair and blue eyes as depicted inpaintings during those times. I find this hard to believe.

Matador,
Which leads me to my point. We weren't there, drawings and paintings from that time are objective, so I'm more partial to believe it was quite a mix! (although I still don't believe they were all that light skinned and I think history will be on my side! they may not have colored the faces in, but some facial features painted will be a more accurate clue as to the skin color.)

Still... what difference does it make?!

Topic: Safety for Chinese?

Let's keep to it. Thanks!