I heard that no one in Spain wears shorts? Is this true? I am going in early-mid May when the temperatures should be nice and mild. Will I be the only one in shorts? Or will I just look like all the other tourists?

Our host in Madrid (Madrileño - age 65) wears 'walking shorts' quite often during the summer. Many 'pilgrims' on the Camino Frances wear hiking shorts. The cloak (adorned with scallop shell) of the pilgrim has given way to a 'poncho' but the 'flop' hat and staff are still part of the 'uniform.'
Shorts are more often seen in tourist spots than in the larger cities.
BUT
You say early to mid-May: That's not summer! About the only place shorts are seen that early is on the Costa del Sol. You might say it's gauche to wear shorts that time of year

[This message has been edited by Eddie (edited 03-25-2001).]

I definitely agree with Eddie! You'll stick out like a sore thumb walking around in shorts. No one here wears shorts until August, really. Even when going to the beach, you wear pants or a dress (women, of course) and then take it off when you get there. There's certainly nothing WRONG with it though, its not like the Middle East or something where you're going to offend someone--its just a matter of "blending in". And, when you wear shorts, be extra careful on the metro for pickpockets--it just screams "tourist!" Good luck, and have fun.

I know that in some places like churches they do not let get in to people who are in shorts or if their shoulders are not covered.

What I've noticed is that in Europe people like to dress up, maybe becouse they socialize more, they are in contact with others on the streets, metro, trains, and they care about their appearance.

Looking at the people in Madrid one Saturday night, it was like a fashion show,
and once back to California, walking in a mall looking at the people, men a women with big T-shirts, big shorts, sandals. things that do not match with their bodies.
it gave me the impresion that they do not care about themselves or the others.

Rafael

I work in an office on the Costa del Sol and Eddie's right. In May my shorts are dusted off and the world is exposed to not a pretty sight! With a polo shirt, that's my "uniform" until October (not the same one, I hasten to add!). Many Spaniards dress this way too in summer and why not? Just have a look in all the stores now, as they are starting to stock the Bermudas and these aren't for tourists.

Disagree with the beach bit. I think you stand out if you're NOT dressed in shorts going down to the beach.

But I think that if you walk aroound central in Madrid in shorts in May, I am afraid you are going to be recognizable as a tourist.

I think it depends on where you are going. I also read that Spaniards dress up a lot and took very nice clothes. I ended up on the Costa del Sol for a month and found that people there dressed really casual so most of my clothes never got worn at all!

The weather dictates casual dress, jensdog, for during the daytime on the Costa del Sol.

However, we dress more formally, ie trousers instead of shorts, for the evening if we are going for a meal, or heading into town for a drink or two.

Unfortunately, we also have the occasional disgusting sight of a (almost always Brit) large male tourist walking around town in just his shorts, wandering in and out of shops, getting on buses etc......YUK!!

Actually, you're all right. It depends on where you go, and the season, as to what is and isn't acceptable attire.

As an example, in Rota, the influence of the US Navy is apparent. More jeans & t-shirts with logos on them than you could imagine. They even wear tennis shoes, etc.

A friend of ours, who had worked in a suit his entire life ended up doing a project at the Naval Station there... was from Madrid... was going to work in jeans, American style shirts, and tennis shoes. Even though he's an engineer.

I was surprised at how many Spaniards in their 40s & 50s were included in this change of clothing style. But that was Rota. Just a few miles away, in Cadiz, it was completely different.

On the other hand, anyone in Bilbao, or Madrid, wearing shorts while shopping, is more than likely a tourist.

Wolf

Anchovy Front, I'm sure you're right about shorts going to the beach in Costa del Sol, sorry I forget that its different here in Barcelona, where you'll be taking the metro through town with other people NOT going to the beach...and once you're on the beach, then the shorts are unveiled from underneath the outer clothing! And, I'm mostly referring to spring and fall anyways, I wasn't here over the summer, so I'm not sure. I was just on the beach today, and wore my jeans down there, and slipped on shorts once I got there. Only (yes, mainly British) tourists wear shorts to and from the beach.

Yes, I would think it would be a bit different in the city, kbc123. And when I said some walk around shops etc in just shorts, I meant it literally - just shorts, no top. Whilst (look out, sexist comment alert!!) it wouldn't be so bad if it was an attractive young lady, it does tend to be an always sweaty, always large, unattractive man who does it. Imagine that in rush hour Barcelona??

Anchovy Front's remarks brought back to mind an incident in MetroMadrid. The 'distraction' was a guy wearing shorts, (no top) who stumbled from one end of the Metro car to the other. Everyone was staring at him when his accomplice grabbed a lady's gold neclace and bolted out the door at one stop. I was on my way to Renfe Atocha and I knew it was a 'team' effort when I saw the same two (or three) people on the Metro going back.

Hmmm I wonder if it was a sly local disguised as a Tacky Touriste? Whatever..beware of staring at Tacky Touriste

Maybe it's time for someone to sell a few signs to merchants. Like the ones we see here in the States.

"No Shoes, no shirt, no service!"

Anchovey... How about adding to that? How about:

"No shoes, no shirt, no pants, no service!

Wolf

Going back to shorts, since some years there is a kind of pants that have spread a lot.
They are very informal, but they are long with a very light cotton cloth, so you feel very fresh. You can buy them in the rastro by 1200 ptas more or less. We usually call them pantalones de pintor (painter pants)

Forget the shorts...let's start with the Speedos at the beach! ¡Caray!

yuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
speedos are bad, bad, bad!

I agree, speedos are gifts you neither asked for nor know what to do with when you get 'em (and I mean other people wearing them.)

What about capris though? These are now a big, big fad for both sexes in the States and it's a nice compromise, let's air in while keeping covered.

Painter pants - very comfortable, I agree, Miguelito! Er, what are speedos and capris? Do we need to add them to Wolf's sign?

Speedos are very popular in South America(Brazil, Argentina). My brother in law still wears them in the states despite my many protests! I'm in Miami, and I see them worn at the beach all the time. Most of the people wearing them shouldn't be. But to each their own!

[ 04-11-2001: Message edited by: mabella ]

Anchovy,

Definitely add speedos to the "unacceptable" list. About the only people who can wear those things are pro bicycle racers, and a few swimmers.

If I tried to get into one of those things I'd look like several hot air balloons bonded together in flight, half of them not being fully inflated.

Of course... if you're 6-2... weigh about 140 lbs and ripped... you may be able to pull it off. That's not me... In fact, I'm bigger than two of those guys

According to my wife, I should start buying my clothes from Omar the Tent Maker. I guess that meant that the diet she put me on has to work... or else

Wolf (Who shops at the big man shops)

Thanks for that excellent description of speedos, Wolf! I nearly choked on my bocadillo! Let's see....."if you're 6-2... weigh about 140 lbs and ripped" ... Nope, rules me out too! I'll stick to the painter's pants - they hide gruesome sights well! Now, what on earth are capris......

Hi Anchovy

Capris are pants that stop somewhere between knee & ankle. Very nice length & worn all over US. Last year in Paris I saw quite a few, however I'm very naieve I really can't tell who is native & who is not.
They could have been all tourists wearing capris.

Anchovy,

Do you remember those pants your parents bought you when you were growing? The ones that were just the right length when purchased, but ended up being called "high water" pants less than six months later after you grew several inches?

Capris resemble that, only they start a bit short, and stay there

I hate short pants. I always feel so self conscious. My ankles aren't any prettier than my knees... A friend of mine referred to my build as resembling a bag of jelly donuts that had been run over by a bus.

Do you think he was telling me something

Wolf

I found most people to be very well dressed! The women in dress pants/skirts, matching sweaters, matching leather shoes and bags. The men - dress pants, button-down shirts and pullovers. Dressed in what I would consider casual clothes, I felt very under-dressed compared to the locals. (female perspective!) Even the babies seemed to have colour-coordinated matching leather shoes. If I return, I would definitely bring dressier clothes than what I had with me.

Wolfgang, I MUST make a comment about your postings - THEY ARE HILARIOUS!!! I love your sense of humour!
Hope to be reading more of you postings - on a daily basis, if possible!

And to add to this thread, I always noticed capris in Spain WAYYYYY before they came to Canada and the USA... my (young) aunt used to wear them all the time and she lives in the outskirts of Madrid (Cercedilla).

SusiLaGallega

I think the part that is confusing on the capri pants issue is that they are for women. Wolfgang accurately reflects my husbands feelings on the speedo issue, and I would think most American men. Just not a good site(men in speedos) from the women's point of view, unless they happen to be nice looking volleyball players on the beach.

Is it me, or are Europeans in general less self-conscious about their body shapes? I've seen very "zaftig" women wearing tiny bikinis, sometimes barely visible amidst the flesh and apparently not at all self-conscious about it. Men as well - Wolf, you fit the description of a lot of (mostly German) men I've seen on the beaches - in the disreputable Speedos. I think it's quite refreshing really (not the sights so much as the attitude!) to encounter people who are so comfortable with themselves.

I need an Anglo-American dictionary! Is there a zaftig man too? It sounds really interesting. Can a Brit help me out here and confirm that capris are known in Europe as pedal-pushers? Don't ask me how I know that - I don't have a drawer full, as my comfortably shaped body wouldn't do them justice, either ..... I just look at 'em on las chicas ..... promise!

Yes, yes, AnchovyFront! We called them pedal pushers when I was a kid. They were popular in the late 50's - Audrey Hepburn made them the "in" thing. (OK, so I was an old kid in the late 50's...)

Capris are also known as pedal-pushers and clam diggers. The slight difference being that Capris are a bit shorter (mid-calf to short) and pedal pushers are short pants to your lower calf.

I've had this argument/discussion before...I thought, having grown up in 50's & 60's that capris were ankle length,tapered pants for women, usually w/little vents at the ankle so you could get them over your feet, and pedal pushers were somewhere between the calf and knee and we started calling them clamdiggers in the early sixties to separate ours from our mother's. Was this just Philadelphia/Jersey Shore differentiation?Now just about everything that is more than 3" above the ankle but below the knee is called a capri.

I must add to this hilarious thread...

I just got back from a week in Spain and all I wore were Capri pants!! I was SOOOO glad I packed them. I saw them all over the place in Madrid (probably mostly tourists like me), and somewhat in Granada. The weather was beautiful, and if I were at home I probably would have been wearing shorts, but of course the only people wearing the shorts that we saw were either German or American tourists!!

I must agree too about the whole speedo/beach wear issue. Europeans seem MUCH more comfortable with their bodies to wear those things, or for women to wear bikinis who in the US would't be caught at the beach without a huge t-shirt covering up their once piece bathing suit with the little 'skirt' attached to it!

Viva Espana!

Just to add to the discussion of capris...which apparently came, originally, from the island of the same name. I just read an article that pointed out that all of us run-of-the-mill, non-famous Americans have been pronouncing it wrong...the Vanity Fair set say "CAH-pri," rather than "ca-PREE." But maybe that's just the island, or pants worn by people shaped like islands, or something like that....

You guys make me LAUGH!!

[ 04-23-2001: Message edited by: taravb ]

Hey you guys, now I'm really confused at what to pack!! I'll be in Malaga for a week, Alicante the following week and Madrid for 3 nights. Shorts and T-shirts (promise no speedo's) seem to be ok for Malaga, but do I need to pack a whole seperate case for 3 nights in Madrid??? HELP!! I'm packing this week and leaving on Friday 4th ... I'm from South Africa and used to the more casual style ... so, Capri's seem to be the order of the day

Take a deep cleansing breath, Cheryl! First off, if you are leaving on the 4th, a bigger concern than appropriate fashion statement is comfort. It is still about 65 degrees in Madrid during the day (again, I check the USA Today website as they have been pretty accurate.) That means you probably will want long pants and long sleeved tops for Madrid anyway. You don't need an entire second suitcase...no one will care if you wind up wearing the same pair of black pants every day! (I'm used to warm weather, so I don't wear Capris unless I feel comfortable having bare feet!)

I don't know how old you are and that sometimes makes a difference. I think a young person can get away with a fashion faux pas better than a fossil like me could! I'm going to Madrid and Malaga in early June and I will take long pants, capris, a skort (shorts with a skirt in both the front and back) and a simple black dress. I bring a sleeveless sweater with matching cardigan, short sleeved tops, and one long sleeved shirt. BRING AN UMBRELLA!

Relax and have a great time!

Phew!!! that's a relief I'm no spring chicken myself, and not yet well-travelled, so I feel a bit of a baby having to ask all the questions I do, but I really don't want to be weighted down with unnecessary baggage, so casuals for Costa del Sol and the old favourite black slacks or skirt for Madrid it will be. Thanks so much for the advice and I'll let you know when I get back. Have a great time yourself.

Shorts in Spain? It depends where and when.
In the large cities, at least, I would be guided by what would seem appropriate at home. Would you walk around the business centers of the United States' most populous and cosmopolitan cities in shorts during the working season? Or even during the vacation months?

In the cities it is wiser to dress a bit conservatively rather than in vacation togs.
Many courteous Spaniards might tolerate vacation garb--but among themselves will often find it amusing.

Good advice Cantabene, I have just said those same words to my husband who is insisting that shorts will be necessary when we go the 1st week in June. I have told him to pack what he likes, but don't blame me if he looks out of place! :o

Regarding the whole shorts thing: My last trip to Spain was 1999. Our tour guide was a young man in his late 20's. We went to Madrid and Barcelona, and the guide wore walking shorts/Bermuda length with a short sleeved henley or golf/type shirt tucked in. He wore a belt and sandals...not gym shoes. He is Spanish! Keep in mind that Madrid was pretty toasty and Barcelona was stiflingly hot and humid.

While Tucson certainly is not as large a city as New York, our postal workers, UPS drivers, repairmen and the like all wear walking shorts with the requisite dress/uniform shirt and a belt. Similarly, it is not uncommon to see women going to work in walking length shorts with jackets (for air conditioning!!). The difference is in the definition of shorts! I would not wear raggedy cut offs, lycra workout shorts, or those short shorts that go up to your armpits ANYWHERE in Spain, just as I would not wear them to go to a downtown-type function in the US. Going casual should look like what casual Friday was supposed to be about...no heels, no pinstriped suit, white shirt and tie...NOT like you were just out working in the garden.

I try to dress a little more conservatively when I'm in Europe because I am usually there in a somewhat official capacity: a teacher. I dress up more for my classes here...even when it is 117 in the shade and we are wearing shorts!

My Spanish friends are fond of reminding me "En España hay nueve meses de invierno y tres de infierno." When it is not in infierno mode, it can be pretty chilly (I find 50 degree nights chilly!), so I think you can wear long pants in Madrid until at least mid June without feeling uncomfortably hot. The end of July and August, however, can be very warm and jeans (in my opinion) are just too heavy.

Speedos! I always thought of them as fair play! If women are drooled over for wearing dental floss and gauze to the beach (and the truth is, even the most modest of women's bathing suits is designed to cling tightly to the person wearing it and to highlight all physical imperfections,) then men should have to wear Speedos! We don't have to look at them, but perhaps then they would understand why women are so grumpy when they have to try on new bathing suits if they had to try to squeeze into one of those bits of lycra too!




[ 04-30-2001: Message edited by: la maestra ]

One year, it was very hot the first week of April and we were on our way to Sevilla for Semana Santa. My wife's cousin (mid-40's) drove me to a Corté Inglés and bought me a pair of Spanish-made walking shorts. They came in very handy in Sevilla.
Also, on the subject of Speedo's: Speedo is a brand name and although they make thong-type swimwear, they also make swim trunks. I own two pairs of very fashionable Speedo swim trunks and I wear them whenever I go to the beach (in Spain or the U.S.). I last wore them bathing in the mar Cantabrico last September.