Why was our service so bad in Malaga, Spain?

Show all answers

BarcelonaMan

I can't say about this particular situation but Spain has a kind of reputation for not having good service as compared to places like England and the USA. It truly is "different" in Spain. Service is not a high priority.

And service is generally slow but not because it's considered bad service but simply because that's the way it's done in Spain. In fact, they tend to leave you alone for longer periods of time as compared to in these other countries where they bother you every 5 minutes asking if you need anything else, if everything is okay, all the while with painted-on smiles and cheery attitudes as their feet are killing them, etcetera.

Rudeness, I'm convinced, is something cultural. What's considered rude by you might be totally appropriate/normal to a Spaniard getting the same service. Again, generally speaking, no one is rude to one group of people or other so don't think it's because you were American. I rather imagine they thought you were English if you were in Malaga.

And, again, generally speaking, no, they don't care much about tips in Spain. They don't really need them and few people give them in Spain so it's not an issue. If they do give tips it could be between nothing about 5%. Chances are good that your waitress was not Spanish, was getting paid a slave's wage, her boss was treating her poorly/unfairly, she was working long hours with no breaks, and has few other opportunities in the world so you can't be surprised much by her attitude.

Regarding the delay for your bill, again, generally speaking, the waiters/waitresses don't personally handle the transaction although they do take your money and bring you your change. Someone else, like the boss/manager/owner, is probably opening the cash register him/herself, making the change, and returning it to the waiter/waitress to be returned to the guest.

Saludos, MadridMan(.com)

Thomas

Barcelon's answer was the best so far. They will not give you your bill until you ask for it - as a courtesy. They will come when you directly point your finger out and up in the air to indicate that you want them.

Once the customs and the communication are clear, their way is very efficient - in restaurants that is. They don't pester you to keep spending a fortune and you can stay at the table for as long as you wish without rushing you out. They will even do extra favors (special orders) that are unheard of in the States. It is about different customs more than anything.

Sole proprietors in retail stores, etc can be rude though. It's all about them.

cyberdiabliya

When you go to a restaurant in Spain, no matter where you are, the waitresses is not gonna come to you in less than one min to take your drinks order, the food is pretty good but sometimes you can be waiting 15 min for it easily... a lot of people dont understand why is this but one of the reasons is the tips. Here in the states people think a 15-20% of the meals value is the right tip... In Spain that kind of tip is considered outreageous! Lets be honest with the euro everything is too expensive and we cannot afford that kind of tip. I live in michigan since 2005 and the service i get is amazing, i wish i could say the same for the service in my country but i cant. Just remember its nothing personal... and if that doesnt cheer you up, remember you dont have to tip so high, example: 40 euro meal = 1,50 euro tip, funny isnt it?

SUE

You DO have to keep in mind that they don't WORK for tips in Spain...or most of Europe, for that matter. They work for their boss only, and if he said to water the plants, well, that's what she is supposed to be doing.

Not sure why you were treated so rudely, though. It sounds a bit over the top. I don't know..they have a different sense of time, there. Things are done in a different order. Just as they don't think of you as their boss, neither do they think of things in the same order as you do. They think that when you sit down to eat, you are there to kick back for a while. They don't think you need the check immediately.

And it's possible, that if you didn't know about the tip thing, that you did or said something that DID insult your server somehow, without realizing it. They have rules for things that we don't. And vice versa.

You can't just go into another country and expect them to serve you in the same way they do at home.

I've never felt that I was treated rudely in most places in Spain, because I generally think that I know how to talk to them...although, come to think of it, in Barcelona, I had a few little problems.

SOC JO! A capite ad calcem

You were unlucky....IÂ´m Spanish and I donÂ´t know anyone that doesnÂ´t like the Americans so much to give them a bad service.
Sometimes this people qwork for sooooo long hours that they end up so tired and get paid so bad that they do not bother,with you,with anyone.
I have found bad service everywhere.I have been to different countries already and we always get it somewhere.
Last time I had a bad service was in France.We stood up and went without paying.We had to wait 1 hour to get our desserts!!!! The owner stopped us on the way out,and I told him what happened and that we were going.He let us go.

willsy

I think, to be perfectly honest, you can get bad service anywhere in the world.
I live in Spain and one of the things that you do get used to is the peoples relaxed attitude towards service in restaurants and in bars, ie: not rushing around and doing things as soon as they are asked for. This is not done out of rudeness but it is just the way things are done in Spain. Slowly!

Slick1

Your lucky to even get service being an American..

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: