Interesting article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1098880,00.html

If anything the article understates the horrendous behaviour of British tourists abroad - it's just as bad in Greece. This is one reason why I tend to avoid Brits (or at least the beach-seeker variety) when I'm in Spain. I think this adds to Madrid's appeal, being so far from any coast you don't tend to get the UK lager louts/yobs.
I think what surprises me is the average Brit's aversion to trying anything new, partly down to his/her xenophobia. I remember being in an Irish bar (don't worry I also visited beer gardens day-time) in Regensburg Germany and noting that UK workers were sticking religiously to Guinness and baked potatoes, as they thought they couldn't trust local produce. Imagine avoiding some of the best beer in the world?

filbert writes: Those "UK workers" weren't 'Brits;' they were Irish! The potato is the 'giveaway.' As for the Guinness: that's what one drinks in Irish Pubs!

Guinness is Good for You - Guinness Gives You Strength - God Bless Guinness!

Ah yes, when I went with my parents to Marbella/Mijas Costa at the end of my stint in Madrid, we were in a time share surrounded by mostly Brits for a week.

Don't get me wrong, I love the British: I mean that too, but I heard more English than Spanish those 5 days then all of my 5 months in Madrid. Thankfully we had a rental car, so we could get the hell out of the tourist spots. It would have been a completely less satisfying trip if we had been relegated to the packaged tour buses and 'playas de guiris'.

Sorry, Eddie but they were from Birmingham, Uk and were working for a local car company. I take your point about Guinness though - I sometimes take a tipple myself. My point was these particular individuals were not going to try anything local.

I would like to know why the brits bother to travel at all, (if not just to take perfectly pleasant local place-names like Livorno in Italy and replace them with dopey names like "Leghorn"!)! They aren't happy until they manage to create an exclusive ghetto (complete with bars that exclude non-brits, I have encountered that phenom more than once, lol).
One of my favorite british tourist stories involves a conversation overheard at an open air restaurant one morning in Nerja, Spain, two couples at a table next to mine where expressing incredulous dismay over the fact that a waiter at a local restaurant the night before could not bring them a plate of "minestroni"!!! Yikes!

i believe that anyone should be able to go wherever they want in this world. The problem with the brits is that many are not even interested in learning spanish. In spain there is sometimes this xenophohia against morroccans and and other africans that come into spain. At least they are willing to learn the language. All the places that I went In spain in the 11 months that I was there I never encountered an african who did not speak the language. It is not uncommon to encounter africans who speak 4 or five european languages.

I remember when I was in Alicante overhearing some British people talk about me and my friends being from America.

They referred to us as being "from the colony".

Hmm, the colony is quite old now. Anyway, the beach seeking kind are everywhere down there.

Although I'm originally from Finland, I lived in the UK for near on 30 years so most people could take me for an Englishman. I understand that the British have a reputation abroad and consequently when travelling in Europe have always found out the local translation for 'I'm from Finland, but I live in England'. This has usually won me much sympathy especially from the French who cannot imagine what I must have done in a previous life to deserve such a fate. I do think however, that a lot of the characterisation of Brits abroad as being mindless thugs, unable to eat the local food and not wanting to learn about local culture and customs is unfair today. It is a case of mud slung in the past still sticking today. Like football supporters all being violent might have been true 25-30 years ago but now not so.
There are some truely awful people out there, and living now in Madrid I shy away from a lot of the bars where the custom is mainly British/American, as I find the above group to be often too loud and overbearing. But having said that I have met some very nice Brits and Yanks whilst here and hope to do so in the future.
PS About the 'colony' thing, I'm afraid I think this is just a case of the famous British sense of humour. I suspect they were enjoying a joke at your expense.