Irritating foreigners

A BIT like wasps around a jam pot, the British media is buzzing with stories about a so­called secret Spanish word for irritating foreigners which is Guiri.

This writer has owned a property in Spain for more than 20 years and neighbours have been calling him a Guiri for all that time, when they can’t think of anything more appropriate.

flict, a claim that the Spanish government has denied.

In response, the Spanish Foreign Minister demanded that the embassy remove the post, which they did. The ambassador was subsequently summoned where he received a warning.

Despite this incident, Spain continues to play an active role in supporting Ukraine. The country has already provided tanks, missiles, and other supplies and plans to train more Ukrainian troops soon.

To the Spanish it immediately explains something about the person who may like to think of themselves as either an expat or a holiday maker, but in fact is a just a foreigner.

It isn’t always insulting, just describes who the person is and is probably less offensive than the British word Dago or Chilean word Godo (and there is another but that is too rude to repeat in a family newspaper) to a Spaniard.

There are at least two songs which spell out the meaning of the word, Guiris (go home) by La Maquineria del Fango and Guiris by Los Ratones, but if you are British or Irish, don’t worry, it’s aimed at any foreigner who gets into a Spaniard’s sights.

So emotive is the word that various Spanish newspapers have picked up on the ‘storm in a tea cup’ as can be seen from an article in La Vanguardia.

In this woke atmosphere we live in today, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ may no longer be the case, but at least we stiff upper lip Guiris can learn to live with it.

Betty Henderson

THE Spanish Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) recently conducted a survey to find out which Spanish cities are the cleanest and dirtiest. The results of the survey were released on Thursday, April 27, and some of them are surprising!

A total of 6,863 residents participated in the survey which found that the worst offenders when it comes to dirty streets are Palma, Alicante, and Sevilla, all of which are popular tourist destinations. San Sebastián de los Reyes, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Barcelona, and Madrid also made the list of the ‘worst’ cities.

But it’s not all bad news. Oviedo, Bilbao, and Vigo were praised by their residents for their clean streets. Pamplona and Albacete also received high ratings, with Albacete showing a significant improvement from the previous survey.

However, the OCU warned that overall the results are mediocre, with one in three cities receiving a ‘poor’ rating. The main issues cited by residents were dog mess on the streets, litter outside of bins, graffiti, and dirty suburbs.

The OCU has called on local authorities to increase street cleaning and to crack down on dog owners who don’t clean up their mess.

AUTHORITIES in Madrid went into uproar on Wednesday, April 27 after a Chilean artist placed a provocative sculpture in the capital’s iconic Puerta del Sol square.

Nicolás Miranda’s sculpture depicted former Spanish King Juan Carlos aiming a rifle at a larger statue of a bear, which is a beloved emblem of Madrid. The artwork is a clear reference to the disgraced monarch’s love of hunting, which has sparked controversy in the past.

Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014, has been heavily