Hi!
This is my first post here so here goes…and sorry if this topic has already been discussed. What I was wondering about was the class/social system in Spain. i.e. are there upper, middle and lower classes like there are in the U.S.? And if so, what defines each of them, is it ones profession, income, family etc. Also, what, if any tensions or stereotypes exist concerning people of different social classes? And the last question, are there any other types of hierarchies such racial or ethnic?
Thanks, any amount of info. would be GREAT!

Ufff, it is a very difficult question to answer You are asking for a radiography of spanish society.

I would say that social classes are pretty similar to those in USA. There are differences, but perhaps less than in the USA.

Unemployment is quite high (10% aprox.) and salaries are lower (as well as prices) and vary from 9,000 € (an euro is more or less equivalent to a dollar) for a very bad paid job to 120,000 € which is the salary of a CEO of a medium company. Of course there are higher salaries, but we are talking about what is considered "normal".

The definition of class in Spain could be a mix of wealth and education/culture background. Lower classes are formed by not qualified workers. Higher classes are formed by wealthy people, the aristochracy and the richest burguesy.

Rising to another class is "easy" since education is free or very cheap in the case of University. We have a good social system to protect the less favoured. Our health system is "free" (payed via taxes) for every citizen, and we have an unmeployment secure, and a "salary" for life when your reach 65 years-old.

Inmigrants usually fall into the low class due to their situation (though some are starting to rise thanks to their businessess). Gypsies fall in the low class in their majority due to lack of integration (as always, there are exceptions).

Until ten years ago Spain was pretty homogeneous. In the last ten years we have received 3-4 million inmigrants, so ethnic differences (save gypsies) are only caused due to peoples inmigrant condition.

Fernando

Well what I notice in the Spanish familie of my husband ist the following (I'm dutch).

First Latino's are at the bottom. In the eyes of a lot of Spanish people they are low class under the low class of Spanish people.

Then in the family it self it has to do in the first place with money, then where you live and what you do.

How much money you have, where you live, and what sort of work you do. That sounds familiar.

I think the moroccans are at the bottom, and all africans ( you only have to see the last news)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/spain_immigrants_dc

In Latinos, Argentineans are the more respected. And the ecuatorians the less respected.

Latinos and africans get jobs that any spaniard would get( servants for example).

Thanks everyone that helps a lot. sdavidr, thanks for the news link!