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Pippo, I agree with many of the previous posters; MMan, Becky (specially on the -age- factor), etc...

And, it's all too relative, I believe you're male and live in Tarragona? (maybe I'm totally wrong!), well, as a working female in Madrid I surely wasn't able to "go de cañas", after leaving work past seven thirty or eight o clock, everyday!, I would most likely run, run, run to get some errands done (the vet, the cleaners, you name it) then to the expensive Corte Inglés supermarket because it was still open, to buy some groceries, get home, make dinner, etc...and I was a "super-privilegiada" that didn't have to spend the average 1-hour in public transportation to reach home....I actually walked!
Those were the days when I didn't have to run even more to Becky's language consultancy firm, where I would teach (second job), and so would she (still does), never finishing until ten, getting finally home at about eleven....

Anyway, yes, in Spain there is a certain "cañas-after-work" culture in some places, but nothing compared to the Brits, for instance. Many, many, many Brits do go to the pub after work on a daily basis!, much more than us I dare to believe. But in my view, that doesn't necessarily indicate that life in Britain is more fun, though.
I'm gonna tell you something: I have been living in Madrid 3 years and the first 6 months I was asking to myself:
Why people say "De Madrid al Cielo"???
Why people say this is a great town??
Why foreigners chosed Madrid like "the most fun european big town"??

For me it was horrible: I was studing and working and I never came back to my flat before 21'30 hours.
I had to run exactly like you did to "El Corte Ingles" and buy food to dinner more than 1 and 2 times.
Me, being a country boy, couldn't like the flat where I lived because I had always lived in a house and in my opinion it was crazy to rent a flat with a person you don't known or rent only a bedroom like some guiris used to do.
Then you have people: people was literally running, they never walked on the street but they literally runned, from here to there from there to here everybody was running.
And then foreigners: I have never seen in all my life so many foreigners, specially sudamericans and people from East Europe or North Africa. (not that I hate them but that I was simply surprised).
I took the Metro for the first time and it shocked me to see people singing a song and play the guitar, I could go on and on.
But there's something that "poco a poco" makes you like this town, I can not explain what, but there's something.
I supose that every town has a magic you have to find it.
I like to talk with people who have traveled around the world because that's what I would like to do if I had the free time.
Now I live near of Valencia, I can tell you that 20% of inhabitants are foreigners, specially romanians, british and germans, romanians came here to work but english and germans came because the sun, I know everybody is a little bit shocked by the different customs but when I talk to them they say people here "is easy going"
I thought that's true but after reading all messages of this thread, it only depends of the eyes who see it.