Culture Shock Spain

Culture Shock!

by Marie Louise Graff

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure. Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Spain, International

250 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Ercilia Delancer]

The author's unabashed admiration for the dictatorship of General Franco and clear bigotry against the Roma, Gypsy, population of Spain should be enough ground to never buy this book. It is still beyond comprehension how the editors could have agreed to its publication in the first place.

[Kim Browers]

I read the first chapter, and decided that the racism against the Gitano, plus revisionist history of Franco's fascist regime were too upsetting to continue. no thanks.

[Charlotte Burt]

More suited to somebody planning on living in Spain rather than for the tourist. It was also a little out of date.

[Ruby]

This book needs an updated version since the version I read was published in 2002. It has some interesting perspectives but I think Spain probably has changed a lot in 18 years.

[Fredrick Danysh]

Designed to be a guide for adapting to Spanish life and culture, this simplistic book gives a cursory look at the Spanish. While some very basic information is given there is really no meat to the work and is not very helpful to prospective travelers.

[Denise Hatcher]

This was a fun refresher on what I learned about and saw on trips to Spain. Post-covid and updated, I am sure much has changed. Also, I never plan to live in Spain, so I did skim some of it, like chapter seven entitled Settling In and Adapting and chapter eleven named Business and Working Conditions. I did dog ear thorough map on pages 90 - 91, as well as chapter one about History and Development, and chapter three entitled Language.

I thought the brief history review in chapter one highlighted Spain’s rich, long history well. Maybe my favorite sentence, and the reason I reread this book is found on page 11 and reads, “In order to understand and appreciate Spain and its complexities, you need to know a bit about the upheavals that the country has suffered throughout history.” Yes, Spain has a long history and reviewing it and reading this book was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

[Tim Murphy]

Like the other Culture Shock books, this one is good, but limited in usefulness. I read it before going to Spain in May and took a look again before returning to Spain in October. Yet, the newer edition has additional information that is more up to date and thus more useful.

[chelsea]

a lot of the info was outdated. had some good bits of info, but a more recently published book would probably be more useful to the modern traveler. much has changed since the book’s publication.

[Omarove]

Perfecto!

[David Ward]

Culture Shock: Spain - A Guide to Customs & Etiquette by Marie Louise Graff (Graphic Arts Center Publishing 1992) (914.6+/-). This is a book to prepare a traveler for a trip to Spain. The emphasis is on local customs which would otherwise be unknown to the foreign-born reader/traveler. The takeaway: to fit in with Spanish culture, play nice, be respectful, and try to act grateful. My rating: 7/10, finished 6/16/15.

[Cindy]

Read this to get ready for our honeymoon in Spain. Some of it was pertinent to our trip to Spain but it was mostly for those who are going to live there. Maybe someday, but just visiting first!

[Nur]

Helpful and handy. Like it so much.