You know when you are in Spain when …..
#1 The bus company SuBús produces thousands of high quality leaflets promoting their new every-20-minute service from Alicante Airport to the provincial capital. They have also spent a fortune covering the airport in huge, expensive posters BUT
…they do not bother to get them professionally translated! The Spanish “sentido contrario” is apparently “meaningless sense”! So, if you want to know the route you will have to learn Spanish or guess correctly that it means “opposite direction” #FAIL
(for a ha´peth of tar!)
You know when you are in Spain when …..
#2 The bar at Málaga Station proudly (eventually!) announces it has wifi. So, at 7am I ask for the password. “No, we do not switch it on until 10am. Otherwise people check their emails, play on Facebook or do work,”
Presumably after 10 am people do that too!
#FAIL
(So, I tethered my laptop, checked my emails, abused Arsenal fans and did some work.)
When the bar owner at a Fuengirola bar switched the router off at 6pm one day a few months ago (I was in the middle of a long email) He hit me with a similarly dumb answer. I thought about it 30 seconds, copy and saved the email and tethered my laptop.
A few minutes later I saw him talking about me to a waiter. The latter came over and asked what I was doing. I said “I am using your wifi”. He replied that I could not be as the owner has switched it off. Quick as lightning I invented, “Oh, you have only got level 2 security on it” (or some dumb comment I normally reserve for Arsenal fans) and “…it was so easy to hack in. You are doing yourself more harm than good switching it off as even my grandmother could get in, never mind my grandchildren” The waiter scurried over to tell the boss who pretended to understand my BS. 2 minutes later he came over and proudly announced that he had “decided to allow clients access at all times”
#Mmmmm ……but if you ever use the wifi in Bar xxxxxx after 6 pm you have me to thank, guys
You know when you are in Spain when …..
#3 We have a bar up the road which proudly offers wifi according to stickers in the window, I only set foot in there once 3 years ago when the owner (British) confirmed they did indeed have wifi – only she did not know what the password was (I mean literally did NOT know what a password might be needed for in this event as it definitely worked fine without it on her phone) Perhaps they have figured it out by now but I shall never find out, there being no great shortage of alternatives.
From Maya Middlemiss at Costa Connected with a real thisisspain anecdote.