We spent four days in València, welcomed by the exquisite Leticia Colomer responsible for promoting the city for the VisitValència Tourist Board of which we were guests, and we promise to tell you all, post after post, to share not only the historical and artistic beauties of the city, but also and above all its atmosphere and the warm welcome of its people.

Spanish habits and customs
But first we want to take you by the hand to España by revealing, to those who have never been there but also to those who have visited this land not paying much attention to its customs and traditions, the many ways of greeting the Iberian Peninsula.

València is an easy city, where you immediately feel “at home”. Yet there are a couple of things that are not easy for us Italians to understand. But it would be the same in all of España. Among these are greetings. Our talented guide Marcos Buigues, who accompanied us on the tour of the historical center of València, also patiently told us that not only do they change following the times of the day, such as our good morning and good evening, but also according to whether you arrive or go away.

In short, there is not a word similar to our hello that we use to greet a friend, but also to wish good morning or as a greeting before saying goodbye. So to integrate perfectly and be polite you have to learn to say hola that corresponds more or less to our hello when you enter a place and then maybe wish buenos días that is good day. This until noon. Then from noon until sunset next to the always valid hola you have to enter buenas tardes which corresponds to our good afternoon!

When you go away but plan to see you soon the person is said to have hasta luego while adios to greet in a general way.
Buenas noches is used after dark, when it is already dark and all night and is equivalent to a good evening, but it is also used to greet before going to bed or in any case late in the evening, so it is also good to say good night.
Another important thing to avoid “clashes” at the nose level: in Spain it is usual to greet each other with hugs and kisses just like in Italy but be careful not to miss the wrong way! If you start with the right cheek and then switch to the left one, in España it is exactly the opposite.

Another Italian custom that there is no in Spain is aperitif, at least as we understand it. In fact, tapas are considered a lunch or dinner and the various courses replace the main meals very well.
While a glass of wine or a mug of beer with olives and the delicious peanuts that are grown in the huerta of València and which take their name as cacaus del collaret, with a small shape that refers to the pearls that form a necklace, it is drunk at any time of day not necessarily before lunch or dinner as we do.

But what is meant by tapas? Tapas is the name with which the small snacks served in Spanish bars are defined, a sort of appetizers that accompany the drink. The term originated in Andalusia in the nineteenth century and refers to the custom of covering, which in Spanish is called tapar, the glass of wine or sherry in inns with a piece of bread or ham to prevent insects or dirt from entering it.
Today they are mini concentrates of Mediterranean cuisine with ham, cheese and olives but also fried octopus and calamari, or even tortilla de patatas or patatas bravas as they prepare them in València. These are fried potatoes and served hot with a spicy sauce made with mayonnaise and garlic.
In the menus you will also find montaditos and bocadillos. The montadito, born as a simple tart, of “whipped” food that is laid on a slice of bread, then turned into a morsel stuffed with hamburgers, ham, omelettes, mushrooms, cheeses, various sauces. If it is bigger it turns into a bocadillo, a sandwich stuffed with various ingredients.
And if you feel like preparing a tart with bread, butter and anchovies at the moment, I recommend how to request it! In Spanish butter means donkey and telling someone can be offensive, just like in Italy. The right word is mantequilla.
But we will talk about Spanish food, especially Valencian, in our #buongusto section entirely dedicated to the gastronomìa de España.
In collaboration with VisitValència