In a comment on the post below, Matt says that the contrasting reactions of the Spanish to the March 2004 Madrid attacks (public, shared emotional outcry) and the British to the London 2005 attacks (stiff upper lip, we are not afraid, back to work quickly), “can be attributed to cultural differences”. I totally agree. The Spanish are an out-on-the-street, hide nothing nation who need to demonstrate their emotions in public – they mourn together, protest together, celebrate together… Have you ever seen a Spanish fiesta in full swing? No one is afraid to let everyone else know exactly how happy they are to have a roaring good time together on the streets of their town/city/village (with the exception perhaps of Madrid, where the main fiesta, San Isidro, is something of a disappointment.)
Now look at the British – yes they will protest on the street when absolutely necessary, but only one tenth of the number of times that the Spanish will in any given year – yes they will mourn or celebrate together, but we’ll put these things behind us more quickly – and when the nation is under attack, what happens? They defend themselves by getting back to work as quickly as possible. Nothing wrong with that. Just two age-old ways of dealing with the same problems.
Sometimes, as a Brit who has been in Spain for 7 years, I’m not sure which of these two ways I deal with these horrors anymore, I just sort of get on with work, emotionally…
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 