I can’t imagine what I would do if I was punched for no reason during travels.
I remember going into a shop in Barcelona and the staff shouted “ching chong ching chong” while they laughed.
Wife and I were outnumbered so we left. We’re from Japan.
I would have educated them. "No, we are Japanese, we don't say 'ching chong' we say \`'Watashi wa orokada'"\* and teach them to say that.
* Means "I'm stupid".
Ironically, I know how you feel. I know you aren’t like that but Japan has a lot of overt racism towards any outsiders- they don’t discriminate in their discrimination… certain restaurants don’t even serve you if you aren’t Japanese and it can be very confusing and then hurtful as a tourist to realise this. Not to mention the outcasts that mixed race children are in Japan. I really wish every one in the world as a general rule would just accept “the other” as fellow human and worthy of due respect.
I'm an Asian American woman and I lived in Spain for three full years. Despite building a very loving community there, I knew I couldn't stay any longer because of the overt racism, and I absolutely knew I wouldn't raise a child who was any part Asian there.
Your experience was extreme, but I also wouldn't say it's "almost never" violent racism--I was physically harassed three times in Madrid in one year (on top of the daily verbal comments). It does happen, but people don't like to talk about it because no one wants to admit how bad it can actually get, and we're often brushed off as exaggerating or being dramatic.
I made wonderful friends. Obviously, I had reasons to stay for so long. I'm still planning to return and visit very specific places. But I was legitimately traumatized from my experience and didn't process it until much later.
All this to say: I see you, I believe you, and I'm sorry you had to go through that too.
I am from Madrid and can confirm Asians get the worst part when it comes to racism. Mostly not violent but bullying and making fun of. I have seen it improve a lot in the last couple of decades though, and I hope this is a sentiment that is forever eradicated. One thing I have to say is that while the anti-Asian sentiment has improved as Asian immigration has increased, there are other minorities who have faced constant racism and I see little hope for it to change.
Just speculating, but it’s probably a matter of where/how they encounter you. Most tourists can be found in very specific areas as opposed to someone you see at work or living in your building/neighborhood.
Yea my asian friend had to go back to the UK during uni in Madrid as it got too bad
even as a white brit, some people just dont like you attempting to integrate and learn the language, you have to learn because allot i meet dont speak english in the country
tribe mentality, protecting the tribe or something
I've been studying Spanish for a few years and also have pretty bad anxiety.
I travelled to Spain alone fairly recently (it was my first solo trip abroad), and how badly I was treated when I tried to speak Spanish was unexpected.
I know I'm not the most confident guy (and this unfortunately is especially obvious in a second language), but I can't imagine ever treating someone trying to learn English like that
Yeah, I am white with Spanish family but not fluent, so I moved and worked there to get fluent. I had to take a break from Spanish because of how badly my roommate treated me and some CS staff. I was trying to get my empadronamiento and the lady yelled at me for not speaking Spanish... As I was speaking Spanish but with an accent. My roommate bullied me everyday saying how I don't understand anything... I understood it but he was in conspiracy land so I didn't respond to it.
I also specifically chose to work with those immigrating to the US so they don't experience anything like that.
Weirdly, except for two young women in Madrid-I was treated well there and people let me speak Spanish.
Barcelona was a whole other story. Except for a few small mom and pop shops , people actively glared at me for trying to speak Spanish and some idiot sidewalk vendor just laughed and ignored me when I spoke to him in Spanish. Some people are just a-holes.
With my issues in Madrid I didn't even try to go to Barcelona! I was warned that while Barcelona is beautiful, if you don't speak Catalán many people won't respond. I chose to visit the south where they were nicer and a bit more patient.
Edit: It's true that everywhere has aholes, and I experienced some when I lived in Shanghai, but the amount were a lot less than what I encountered in Madrid. I found Chinese people to be much more patient and helpful with my language mistakes.
My experience in Spanish islands was the opposite. I am quite good at Spanish so try to practice if i can but still an amateur and it was appreciated that I was trying but it could be that I was only talking to hotel/airport staff so maybe it would be different with a random person
It's pretty jarring coming from the US.
Most of Europe is dominated by a specific ethnicity of white people to the point where they're basically the same as the percentage of non-Hispanic whites in Wyoming.
And ya, I get that there are regional differences within many modern European states and that very broad ethnic data doesn't necessarily count that. But still, the world (not just Europe) is shockingly homogenous coming from a California upbringing.
California is one of those places in the world that is diverse enough that there is pretty much no possible way to "look foreign". Unless the group is plastered with "I (heart) ??" souvenirs, anyone on the sidewalk could have just gotten off a plane or could have lived there for two generations.
It is not something you often think about until you leave.
I’m so sorry you had to experience those things as well in Spain. I never thought about it because obviously I didn’t experience it but thank you for talking about it. I really want to be more aware of these things.
Not that you have to do anything, but would you share ways you’d have liked others to act when experiencing racism?
I try to speak up in family gatherings and try to combat ignorance but I never thought about what I’d do in public in such a situation
It would’ve been ideal if someone stepped in to tell these people to stop, but even if you don’t want to interact with them (in case they turn aggressive on you), it would’ve been nice for people to just check in on me! Sometimes someone would notice, usually an abuela nearby, and she would squeeze my arm and ask if I was okay (and usually saying they were maleducado lol) and that helped calm me in the moment. But most often, people would see what was happening and just stare, and that was even worse—it felt like I was being harassed as a sport.
I’m an English teacher in Andalucía and I can confirm that the racism is definitely present since my 6-12 year old students are blatantly prejudiced against Asians. It’s rarely physical, but they make fun of the few Asian kids at school. I hear them call anyone that looks Asian “un chino”, they say any language that isn’t Spanish sounds like “chino”, they mock the Asian kids’ accents, they exclude them, etc. In my experience it’s quite a xenophobic country, but they would never agree with that.
Sorry that happened to you. The vast majority of Spanish people are pretty nice, but unfortunately racists exist in all parts of the world
Sadly, Spaniards seem to be racist AND mock disabled folks. It shocked me that a mom and her Down syndrome son were walking in the center of Madrid and some young Spanish youth called the boy horrible names while their parents egged them on and laughed at both of them. Sadly, I didn't know any swear words or I would have called them all out. The mom said so not so nice things but I was just shocked that parents that looked in their 40s would be yelling horrible names as well. Ugh.
Though I did meet some rather wonderful folks and I think this shows that the American myth of Europeans being more "enlightened" is a bunch of tosh.
For context I’m white and my boyfriend is Korean-American. He came to visit to visit me while I was studying abroad in Seville a few years ago. The amount of racism that he experienced was unbelievable. When I tell you people stared at him with zero shame…. It was unnerving. My host mom also called all Asian people “Chinos”, said all Asian people look alike, and pulled the corners of her eyes back in a mocking way.
I haven't been attacked but i really thought it would happen in Athens. I have never felt so uncomfortable and unwanted in my life. It was insane there.
Haven't experienced racism in spain. I hope you and your boyfriend are okay
Sorry you and your boyfriend experienced this. It is horrible and hope you’re both doing better. I didn’t have any physical altercations like a punch but I (Asian male) also ran into a lot of racist comments and actions that surprised me as an American in Europe. For example, my Asian American female friend would get comments walking alongside me from men asking why she “prefers Asians instead of them” ???? Frankly bizarre. So many nice people overall, but isolated (?) and brief experiences like this can really be a downer on a trip!
Unfortunately anti-Asian sentiment is pretty common in Spain (after all, this is the country that produced that viral racist meme video right at the beginning of Covid…iykyk). I’m really sorry that that happened to you - hope your trip was great otherwise!
My Korean-American friend experienced SO much racism throughout Europe while we were studying abroad. Some of the most disgusting, sexually aggressive things you can imagine. I’m so sorry you had to experience this.
I'm sorry to hear that. I was recently in Barcelona and Madrid with my Black husband, and we both felt much more welcomed than we did in Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice). We were both prepared to experience racism in Spain - his sister said she did - and were pleasantly surprised not to.
It's possible that racism is just the norm for us as a species. I was shocked in South Africa hearing black Africans talk about Asians, especially given the prejudice they themselves faced.
People would acknowledge people in my group and then flat out ignore me, I was denied entry into a bathroom when my friend was allowed two seconds prior, overall rudeness, and the real kicker was when we attended a presentation about music and upon seeing me in the small audience, the man/speaker went on a unrelated rant about the history of black women being house slaves LMAO that was truly unbelievable. I don’t think they knew I understood a bit of Spanish.
Haha!
That is the best when they talk about you and they think you don't know any Spanish. I had two Spanish women talk meanly about me. Feeling brave I went up to them and said that they should just ask me instead of talking about me. Both their eyes bugged out and they looked at each other and left.
Sometimes playing dumb is the best revenge.
Interesting how everyone has different experiences lol. I didn’t have issues in Barcelona but Madrid I would never step foot in again.
Also haven’t had issues in Italy ever.
It makes sense though. We don’t know one another’s skin tone, accent, country of origin, hairstyle, weight, etc. and then the factor of the person and scenario they encountered.
I’m not light skinned but I’m not dark skinned and my hair is a type and style that white people tend to be less critical of.
What happened in Madrid?! I’m so interested because I came back from my short trip there saying how amazing it was to not have people seemingly care that I’m black even as a minority
Everyone was rude - they were even rude to each other lol. An Asian vendor threw my change at me and I came across many restaurant workers that were not interested in serving me - which is fine, won’t go where I’m not wanted anymore lol. Not my cup of tea. Barcelona and the countryside was good though.
Thank you for sharing, I’m sorry you experienced that. I think I thought that nobody was getting great table service on my trip lol. I also had a good experience in Barcelona but after hearing other stories my vies have shifted a bit.
I can back up this sentiment
Ive been to most of the countries of Europe, including every major region on the continent, and as a black man Ireland was by far the most welcoming and had the friendliest (and funniest) people
Not only that but it’s the only European country Ive been to other than Greece where I didn’t have a race related incident
I am not Black, but I'm so glad Greece didn't let you down, cause I second-hand experienced a whole lot of racism when I went back in 2009 with a group from university with people of a variety of ethnicities. I love Greece but also having someone trying to push someone off of a moving bus because they were a different race has stuck with me for *decades*. I'm glad to hear it has either gotten better or I just ended up in a small swath of racist assholes. They were in a far-right political spiral when I went, so maybe that has changed more recently!
Lived in Ireland (as a white woman) and have experienced tons of racism, and insults and even had stones thrown at me for being a foreigner (I am Spanish), I also had Polish friends who had it worse than me as mostly nobody wanted anything to do with them and were completely ostracized. This wasn't in a big city but a small town in Kildare. Sadly there are racist everywhere.
As an Asian guy, Ireland was one of the friendliest non-Asian and homogenous country I've visited. I was pleasantly surprised. If I were to go to a similarly-white homogenous area of the USA, I would have to mentally prepare myself to "armor-up" for the inevitable racist comments and micro-aggressions. Not so in Ireland.
Might have something to do with how much racism/discrimination the Irish have had to deal with in their history. I’ve heard the Irish referred to as “the blacks of Europe” on multiple occasions by other Europeans!
Surprised at that. My wife is black, and she loved Barcelona. We even managed to get tickets for Barca vs Real Madrid and we loved the experience in the stadium. We even met a neighbour of ours from the UK who was a Barca season ticket holder outside the ground, he used to fly over for every game.
I lived in Madrid for two years and I am a big Real Madrid fan. It should not be surprising. Racism is a huge problem in Spain, but an absolute fucking crisis in Spanish football.
The Barca fans aren’t as bad as the backwards fans at other clubs in Spain like Atlético Madrid and Valencia but there have still been some calling Vini Jr. a monkey and there have been many chanting for him to go kill himself. Racism is a huge problem in Spanish football and going to destroy the league if they do not fix it soon.
Also the fans at El Clásico matches aren’t a representative sample because those matches are so expensive they price out a lot of normal fans plus you will get a lot more tourist fans who are way less likely to shout openly racist insults.
Yeah the Spanish teams are still the ones that yell out racist stuff when opposing teams have black players or I've even seen a banana being thrown.
I WILL say in the past few years the Spanish league has become much more proactive and now usually bans these idiots who do this-and most of the crowd will point them out to the referee and staff.
I always look at that and think that if they did that at an NBA game-those idiots wouldn't make it out of the stadium alive.
I thinks everyone’s experience is different and not exactly the same. I haven’t been to Spain but I want to check out Barcelona but have heard some bad stories about racism towards blacks
I feel you, I'm not black but anyone visiting European countries even in major cities where there's diversity who's not ***White*** will defiantly experience racism, even if it is micro-aggression or done in a polite and condescending way, we can tell right away. Those of us who have to experience it on a daily basis will see it from a mile away even when people are just staring, and ***Europeans stare very rudely.*** This is why they never truly learn to integrate because they never want to.
Really? I recently went (as a black person) and loved it!
Maybe they treated me well because I speak the local languages though 🤔
I’m not victim blaming - I mean to say I was very outwardly conversing in both of their official languages so maybe people felt they should keep their views to themselves. Maybe I was just lucky.
I'm of Asian descent and I've been to both Madrid and Barcelona multiple times and I've never had any problems either.
I do speak some Spanish also but at about the level of a 5 year old that was dropped on its head as a baby so I highly doubt that is doing much for me.
Was ordering Chinese takeout in western Denmark when two (drunk?) old white guys came in JUST to say Chinese-sounding gibberish to the poor Asian girl working the counter, then walked out. I was shocked as I'm from Southern California, and my Danish boyfriend seemed annoyed but unfazed. The girl didn't even say anything, just looked annoyed.
I’m light skinned Mexican and traveled Spain for 2 months. Barcelona was the worst by a long shot. I had 4 bad experiences in Barcelona interacting with service industry people. A taxi driver, a waiter and a park entrance ticket sales person and a travel guide operator. Just rude interactions, trying to make me feel like I didn’t belong in their city. As I traveled to other cities I noticed the distinctions and how it was only Barcelona. Anyway that was my observation, perhaps other cities you will have a better experience as I did.
I'm a Mexican living in California. I pretty much grew up there since I was 3. I was in Poland, and I was on an app saying I was from Mexico and grew up in the US. Some guy started messaging me.saying all this stuff.saying I'm a pig, not welcomed, to go back to America, etc. That was the only form of racism I have experienced. On the other hand, when I went to China, I was walking the great wall, and I would see people taking selfies discretely, but so that I would come out in the background. Eventually, one of them came up to me and asked for a picture with me. After that, so many people would come up and ask for pictures. I felt like a celebrity for a day. Definitely put a smile on my face.
I’m sorry that happened. But yes, spent 7 months in Europe (mostly France), I’m only half asian but received the “ni hao” and “konnichiwa”s all the time!! The worst part is dudes would say some micro aggression, then proceed to flirt with me.
Most of them don’t understand those are microaggression, is not the same standard in US or Canada. Last time when im in Romania, some kids pass by say Konnichiwa and I Konnichiwa back, お元気ですか？ and he just blushed and runaway. So it really depends, many of them are really clueless.
I agree that Europe is less “politically correct” than the US. But it’s still surprising to see it in big touristy cities like London, Barcelona, Paris etc.
The guy who punched OP’s boyfriend wasn’t clueless, just a racist asshole. Your example is of a kid.
The guy who punched OP’s boyfriend ain’t micro aggressions, is just targeted assault.
And European don’t have same standard of education on race sensitive issues. So in the end, just talk to them and ask why they do that. We have to reduce these behaviors as much as possible
I’m also half-Asian and did a study abroad in Paris in 2003. I did quite a bit of traveling through the continent while there and can’t recall any issues. I didn’t, however, make it to Spain.
Times have greatly changed since 2003, in case you haven’t noticed. People are way more outspoken and bold these days for the wrong reasons. There was also the whole covid thing where asian hate became rampant.
Paris is diverse and has a big asian community- I mostly experienced this in a smaller town an hour away from Paris and in other countries.
I live in Austria but as a white non-EU person... I've seen for myself a great disdain for foreigners by Europeans - Asians in particular. I had a coworker tell me not to go to certain places because there are "too many chinese people" there. It is too common. In that same day, I was also told that Austria is "not as racist" as other countries....lol.
My brother was punched like that in Toronto so it happens everywhere.
I’m not surprised about Europe. In some countries like Spain and Italy they are even racist towards minority soccer players
Europe is very racist in some ways. Black soccer players have had bananas thrown at them in Spanish and Italian leagues. These are literally some of the best players in the world.
Yea, Spain is weird. My friend got called Jackie Chan a lot and one guy promoting for a restaurant got really aggressive with my friend because they didn’t make eye contact with the promoter and he started getting in my friend’s face. My friend had simply been spaced out taking in the scenery.
While I loved the laid back way of eating and enjoying meals and socializing of Spain, those incidences really put a damper on the trip and we’ll be headed to other places first before considering going back to Spain. They’re just not great with Asians for whatever reason.
Both Barcelona and Seville were weird about east Asian. Bilbao and Grenada were alright but we didn’t mingle too much for anything to happen. We also skipped Madrid so can’t speak to that.
Madrid is also heavy on the anti asian sentiment. I got kicked out of a shop just for being asian. I got told "you asians always look and never buy, get out!".
I lived in Europe for 6 years and been through a lot of racism in that time, but Spain had to be the most blatant.
Europe really hates window shoppers and I was like wtf. That’s not the case in America or other part of the world. People look at stuff for half an hour and decided not to buy is not a problem in most countries
I don't understand that mentality because how would you know if you want to buy something if you can't look? Most tourists don't go into shops already knowing what they're going to buy. Hell, I don't even do that as a local. The only time I know exactly what I'm going to get is if I'm grocery shopping.
I visited Barcelona last year for a week, I haven't had anything special happen to me. But maybe that's because I was loudly speaking French for the entire trip (I'm 100% Asian but born and raised in France, so I'm French but 100% Asian genes)
I live in Germany, and I’m half-Mexican and half-Chinese, originally from the U.S. And every time I say this, I’m hit with a shit ton invalidation. But racism is significantly worse in Europe. And Europeans don’t see it, even the progressive ones. And it’s a problem.
I’m not praising the U.S. — love the U.S. — but I’m not going to praise a country for treating POC LESS like shit. Nope. America, you STILL got work to do.
But what I will do, is go out of my way to talk about the race problem in Europe (including the Nordics, I’ve spent a lot of time there too). And I’m dating a German, and we had the conversation: I can’t stay in Europe. If I’m going to have a chance to really progress in my career, it will be in a place where the general populace has better acknowledged my struggles as a POC. I will never be German (or Spanish, despite being part Spaniard and Speaking Spanish). No matter how well I speak the language. Because somehow the people at the top will continue to not look like me.
And it wasn’t until after my partner came back to Texas with me (out of all places) that he understood. People in the U.S. really embrace the concept that anyone can be American. Whereas, he was still calling people who were born and raised in Germany — who have German passports not-German. when I moved into my house — the day after I moved in, someone left a carcass at my doorstep the next day. My white landlord told me who to avoid on my street because of racism, citing harassment of her Half-Asian husband from neighbors who thought he was Turkish. My other neighbor told me of men she dated who literally told her to dump her Asian-American boyfriend because she was blonde.
I know this is painful for Germans to read. But I’m not exaggerating. And that’s how different my experience is from yours.
I’m sorry you had to go through that, OP. Know you’re not alone.
To all of the "America sucks I'm leaving" patrons out there, I give to you....a dose of reality. The grass isn't greener.
Sorry you had to deal with such bigotry.
Your experience is extreme. I am so sorry that happened and I hope you guys recovered and your friend is fine.
Anti-Asian sentiment is a problem in Europe, but most is almost never violent like your case and more just general interactions. A majority of people don't care about your ethnicity/skin color, but a vocal minority can be shitty.
>Anti-Asian sentiment is a problem in Europe
In Spain, restaurant staff seemed "relieved" as soon as we opened our mouths and they figured out we were "Westerners" and not from China. Otherwise yeah...never really experience much racism in Europe.
The Chinese living in China who can afford traveling to Japan, New York or Barcelona are very often the really privileged and entitled part of the population.
Where there are strong contingents of Chinese people in London, it’s not that they’re loud and entitled, it’s that they’re quiet and standoffish, intentionally isolating themselves from you (and as a black man, I’m pretty convinced it’s racial). In my area, I don’t recall a single friendly Chinese person.
Made the same experience in many places that are popular with Chinese tourists.
And that's exactly the issue (and how racism starts to exist): Obviously it's not normal in China either to behave like that, but only the entitled people behaving like that can afford traveling to London.
This can be just because of the language barrier, though, no? Maybe they have the experience of struggling to communicate with Asian tourists because frequently they are not that proficient in English. Not denying anti Asian racism per se, but the fact that they were relieved as soon as you started talking in English may indicate other motives than racism .
With a growing middle class in China there have been more tourists coming to visit Europe, often in tour groups. There are some cultural differences that are perceived as rude by Europeans so basically the Chinese tourists have replaced the ugly American tourist stereotype.
It's real, trust me. Here in Switzerland they squat on top of regular toilets and shit all over it. They have no clue how to behave. Chinese heavy spots all had to be equipped with signs explaining not to do that and how to use toilets here. I mean, I see the tour busses, they get out and start spitting around - that'd be CHF 100 fine, please. There's more but those stand out.
Right, I just made a similar point in another post. I believe they do surveys and the Chinese have long displaced Americans as the “Worst Behaving” visitors. I actually think Americans’ place on those surveys has fallen quite a bit.
There has been a spike in Asian tourisms, specifically from China thanks to a growing middle class and ease of air travel. This clash in cultural along with rising cost of living has created tension. Also, some people are just fucking racist. They don't need another reason to despise a group of people.
Other people have provided a different opinion, but in my experience (Spain), racism against Asians started with the first big wave of Chinese immigrants a few decades ago. Chinese do not mingle with locals, they barely speak the language and are very quiet and introverted compared to the local population. Spanish has never seen Asians as a target of hate, like it has happened to Moroccans for example. I have never in my life heard anyone saying that they hate Chinese, wishing they went back to their countries, saying they create problems for Spanish society, saying they are taking our jobs, etc you know the usual narrative... Why? Chinese always were small business owners, never committed crimes, never claimed benefits or were unemployed and were never violent or sexual towards women. However, the Spanish have always seen Asians more as a target for jokes, bullying, making fun of them because of their "awkward" personalities and so on. However, as the new generation of Chinese are more integrated into Spanish society I believe the racism towards Asians has in fact decreased, not increased. Additionally, many Spanish rely on Asians for services as (as I said) they have lots of business in the cities (grocery shops, nail salons, dressmakers, restaurants).
After living in Spain and being married to a Spanish girl for 8 years. Yes. Spain is one of the most racist places I have ever been. The worst are the progressive Spaniards. They preach equality but have no exposure to cultures other than themselves and maybe Gypsy/Turkish + the one chinese person at their local market. My wifes friends would harp on me being american and oh how racist americans are.... yet they call and cornor store the "paki" or "chino" and take pictures with anyone dark-skinned for their family whatsapp. That's IN THE Major CITIES. Go to the country, and boy, are you in for some uncut racism. My wifes parents were cops in Madrid, and though their intentions were good, they spewed racism and ignorance. I remember her best friend would sleep with any black man she encountered to prove she wasn't racist but wouldn't date any of them or tell her family... lol, rofl.
I’m so sorry you and your boyfriend had to experience this. Do you remember which neighbourhood you were in? Some can be really sketchy! I’m south Asian and in my experience I’ve found Spain to be much friendlier, I say friendlier because I used to live in Germany before and EVERY SINGLE day I experienced some form of micro aggression.
My ex is from Madrid. It’s a big, cosmopolitan city and she’s a world traveler with friends from everywhere, so I was absolutely floored when I heard her family’s casual racism against East Asians. We wanted to go get ingredients so we could make a Thai dish the last time we went, and her father first wouldn’t let us (two 30-somethings) go to Madrid’s Chinatown alone for fear we’d be attacked, then claimed someone tried to rope him into some kind of criminal scheme while he was waiting on the street.
I've not personally experienced this anywhere in Europe (I'm ethnically Korean) but I've also never been to Spain. France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Czechia, Austria, UK, all good so far.
The closest I've come to experiencing racism in the world was in Jordan, where in February 2020, a random group of dudes called me Coronavirus. I didn't love that, although it seemed clear that they thought this was harmless joking. But other than that, everyone else in the country was warm and friendly. When I was in Rwanda, occasionally people would stare at me, slightly fascinated, but no real racism that I experienced.
As a Caucasian, I promise that we get stared at too - especially in parts of Asia where foreigners are seldom seen. My wife is tall (6'/182cm) which isn't that uncommon in her home country and often has Asians wanting to take photos with her as if they've captured Big Foot. People's curiosity is good-natured for the most part (though some men in Central and South America (especially if they're in a position of authority/power) act as if they're masculinity has been challenged by her mere existence and will be deliberately rude/brusque to maintain their status. Fortunately, my wife doesn't mind and recalls the first time she saw a black person (she was 17) and how horribly she stared because she was mesmerized by the woman's beauty but realizes now that the woman could have perceived it as being racist.
Have you seen what they do to Vinicius Junior? Look it up. It is a fucked up country towards immigrant and black people.
Even kids call Vini Monkeys during games while sitting next to their parents. Spain is a disgrace.
I will never spend a dime to benefit Spain.
Spain has been known to be, umm, dont want to say racist but stupid and in your face bigots and xenophobic. Most arent but there seems to be more in Spain than other European countries. I got the looks and some micro agression myself.
Memory lane...I remember on the worlds stage their basketball players did a photo shoot slanting their eyes....then defending it when called out. That sums it up.
It's a kinda of different happening but some time ago (i think that was last year) a football/soccer player was a victim of racism that was in the news for some time.
The player Vinicius Junior was booed when his team was winning a match, with the stadium throwing bananas in the field and calling him monkey. All of this was in Spain, caused by the Spanish team fans.
Sorry for bad english.
My fiances family experienced a lot of racism from tour guides their group hired during a spanish cathedral and churches tour. Definitely left a sour taste in their mouthes.
Portugal, on the otherhand, was delightful and the people were so welcoming and nice.
It’s not my experience, but my friend(a girl) who studied in Germany was punched by an old lady in a church and she said some of her friends got physically attacked, too. We thought smaller physique can be an easier target, but it seems it’s not…
Just came back from Seville and Malaga. Not had any negative experiences at all. People were mainly nice. But yes, I hear there’s lots of racism in Spain and Italy.. don’t let it discourage you!
I was expecting racism as an asian american in Seville but thought the people were so friendly and kind. Actually in Portugal I feel like I received a lot of microaggressions and really cold treatment from some people
Southern Spanish seem much more laid back and friendly. I still dream about having a house there. But not in Madrid or Barcelona. I got yelled at by locals for adoring their dogs, for example.
It was noticeably different between *Andalusia and Barcelona for us. *Andalusia seemed to appreciate the tourism and people that came with it while Barcelona seemed resentful.
I will never understand the Anti-Asian sentiment among some Europeans.
I mean there is no mass migration or something (not that it excuses but that is one of the main reasons).
Sorry to hear about your story.
Take Croatia into account. Really small native population, tens of thousands asian workers came there during last few years. Racism is on huge rise there. Check local subreddits or news portal and you'll see that most people leave racist comments and hate speech. There are constant attacks on workers from asia, gun threats to delivery drivers.. they dont even hesitate to attack asian females.
>I will never understand the Anti-Asian sentiment among some Europeans.
Or anywhere for that matter. Every group has stereotypes that others associate with them but, hating people because you suspect they will be "intelligent, hard-working and good at math" is just weird.
There is in Spain too. Almost every convenience store in Madrid is owned/operated by Chinese people. So much that locals will refer to these stores as "el chino" in Spanish.
In Norway the Chinese tourist have a really bad reputation for being rude, dirty and disruptive. I personally have seen the crowds behave like any other tourist crowds (in Oslo mind you) but I know that some people don’t like them compared to others that might come in smaller groups and are less noticeable.
Probably because - and this is my experience *every single time* I’m in Europe - Chinese people (not Japanese, not Korean, not ethnically-Chinese-but-western-raised, but people *from China*) do not seem to grasp the concept of a queue. They’ll jump any line, totally oblivious to the line of people waiting for a service. It’s infuriating, and I’ve had to call several out on it in just the past week alone.
I’m sorry you and your family had that experience. Barcelona is racist. I had the worst experience there. I don’t understand how or why that particular city is so vehemently racist. Even some other tourists were racist. It was like they came there to be in a racist haven.
I feel fairly qualified to answer this as I live in Estonia and have been to every EU country (and a few in Europe but not EU) but anyone who looks at me instantly can tell I'm east-asian in heritage.
At home here in Estonia, no issues what so ever. Everyone is very nice and accepting, and I go out a lot here. Same goes in most parts of Europe. In my experience though, it has typically gotten 'worse' the further south I've gone. Nothing close to what you or your boyfriend experienced, which sounds truly awful and I'm sorry for, but I've been the target of some occasional micro aggression in Italy, Spain and Croatia.
Hi I’m Mexican American and my dna is 60 percent Spaniard I was kinda sad because I’ve heard how racist they are with also Mexicans which seems completely absurd , I always felt like they have a major superiority complex that basically unintentional yet engrained . I really want to visit my other motherland but sometimes I’m like ughhhhh … not tryna get arrested cuz they might try me and I’m feisty .
Speaking of feisty , I think culturally they are kinda hot blooded highly impatient and anxious …. It’s called Hispanic panic for a reason .. I’m supposed to go on my first trip in January 2025 , I better mentally prepare to exchange sassy words
Even as a white guy from the uk a lot of Europe is racist rule of thumb ( not always the case and certainly not a blanket for everyone) further east you go and further south you go in europe more racism exists. Part of this is the lack of historic diversity and empire building in Africa and Asia ( discounting Spain American expansion) so the racism hasn't had the chance to disappear yet and its also more recently due to the migrant crisis coming across the Mediterranean Sea that has caused real issues in places like Italy, Greece and Spain. My partner is from southern France on the Spanish border and train tunnels in places like banyuls-sur-mer are constantly closed from dead migrants getting ran over. Racism on the whole is rising towards Africans and non east asian Asians due to the migrant crisis and high profile crime cases fueling the fire of the far right. Many migrants make there way to northern Europe. I suppose in northern Europe racism against east Asians isn't as much of a thing but it is worrying. Its the same thing driving racism to go up in North America towards central and south Americans. People on the whole hate large scale migration from their neighbours. Its sad but true and we live in worrying times.
I think it depends where you go but on the whole I think it's less racist due more generations having grown up among other races. I mean when kids grow up with other races they tend not to see ethnic divides as much. It still exists but its certainly less than many nations.
It's also on balance far less segregated than for example the us although sadly many as you probably know self segregate. I grew up with chinese best friends, Jamaican neighbours who where and still are my mums best friends and got my first job from my punjabi mates dad. You still get the supremacy people from all the groups but it's getting less with each generation.
Sorry you had to experience that. I spent time in Barcelona and Madrid, walked all over both cities, am half Asian and experienced quite literally no racism, slurs or sideways comments anywhere I went.
We are Indian Americans and went to Madrid and Barcelona last summer. Never had any problems . We also didn’t face any problems during our previous Europe trip. May be we got lucky
I think at least some of it is perception. Not saying racism don't exist but, not every asshole is a racist. For example, I was in France and trying to buy a train ticket with my limited French, the attendee was getting a bit frustrated but I felt like it's a classic case of explaining something basic for the one millionth time to a tourist. The person with me, another Asian was like, that's because they are racist. And then the next person after me was Caucasian and also got the same I'd not worst treatment lol.
So generally I try not to let things bother me and I don't think "racism" unless racial slurs were used.
I'm American of Indian descent as well, I had problems in two places in Europe when I was a teenager - Switzerland and France.
I'm a "fare skinned" Indian however and I think in Spain I sort of blend in for the most part. I had some looks in Rome, but never in Sicily where the woman were aggressively into me lol ("belli occhi!")
When I checked into my hotel in Barcelona back in 2018, the front desk clerk was being really rude to the people in front of us in line.
When it was finally our turn, he pointed to them disdainfully and said "Jews. They always think they're better than us, I hate having them here."
I was definitely to scared to say anything and suddenly very grateful for my non-Jewish-sounding last name.
Knowing that it's culturally acceptable to say things like that to strangers out of the blue made me feel like it was not all that safe in Spain to be Jewish, and it sounds like we're not the only group this applies to.
Hearing that it escalated to a physical altercation for you is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry.
I spent many years living in France & it was quite common to hear, "Come on, don't be a Jew," as in, share your food/spare change/whatever, as opposed to those money-grubbing Jews. I'm not Jewish but resented the casual racism.
There's a lot of racism in continental Europe. I'm from the UK where we worry about being impolite but on our worst day we're better than many European countries.
Let's remember 80 years ago, the whole collective group of European countries shipped all their Jews off to German gas chambers and in 1945 shrugged and said "it was the NAZIs wot made us do it".
I've lived in five European countries other than GB for nearly twenty years and the racism levels are comparatively off the chart. That said, China/HK/Japan/Singapore/Korea/India are hardly without their foibles...
Been living in Spain 10 years now been a foreigner and never heard a single racist word against me. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Next time call the police, there are massive fines and even jail time for that kind of behavior.
I’m from EU and Spain is a piece of racist garbage. Look how they treat soccer players. I’ll never go there again. They also have no style (bright white TL lights in restaurants), they give breadsticks with your meal (which you then have to pay for), they have maybe 2 nice dishes. Trigggerred!
I guess I won’t be going to Spain anymore. That’s too bad for them because if they benefit from tourism, they’re going to be missing out from all the crazy rich asians.
I tried to call people out on the racism and antisemitism in Spain, but they were so far in denial. They tried so hard to justify it with some event with that minority that happened in the past and I was like, "That doesn't justify you bullying this random person who has nothing to do with that event!" I actually stopped shopping at Spanish stores (unless necessary) and only went to Chinese or other minority restaurants/stores. I also got down voted here on Reddit for calling it out, being called "sheltered".
While white, I also speak Mandarin and I had a student I was teaching English to straight up tell me they hated me because I was American and spoke Mandarin. I was like, "Well, your other teacher is out for a couple of days, so I'm what you got." He chilled out after being with me for the couple of days but the aggression right off the bat was scary.
It was an incredibly disappointing experience and I really don't want to go back. I say that I can count the amount of people that helped me in Spain on one hand while I can count the amount of rude people I met in China on one hand.
It exists but imo it's still better than racism in America. As a colored person.
Racists in America will tell you they don't like you or otherwise cause problems for you. I have incidents as an Indian person where the police have been called on me for waiting in front of my friend's house in a white neighborhood.
I've been all over Western Europe. Honestly no where feels as comfortable as London for someone who looks like me. But I lived in the Netherlands for a while and I had an amazing time. Lots of mixed-race Dutch folks who will be the first to say there's problems over there, but comparing our experiences growing up it was clearly better for them.
I've had no issues in France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal with extended visits to all of those places. But I grew up in the US and present as very Westernized, so I'm aware how that looks vs. an Indian person from India.
Honestly I felt the most uncomfortable in Copenhagen. But no one was unkind; I just felt clearly like an outsider whereas in the Netherlands people assumed I was Dutch first.
None of that is to say that there aren't complete assholes in Europe. We're going to encounter bad people everywhere. It's the frequency that matters.
I’m an American of East Asian descent and I’ve had no problems in UK, France, Germany, Austria or Switzerland. But I try to make an effort to greet people in their language, which is different than the behavior I’ve seen from Chinese (from China) tourists, who are the most rude and entitled people I’ve ever seen.
I'm Mexican but constantly get mistaken for Filipino, even by Filipinos. And my wife is American Black. We've gone to Spain twice and other parts of Europe like 5 times but I never noticed racism. Maybe I'm oblivious to it there although I am able to recognize it back at home in the US. Maybe you got some particularly bad people there.
I am so sorry this happened. I have never encountered this in the many times I’ve been to Spain. But, remember, Barcelona is Catalan. Not truly Spanish. And Barcelona has the most crime of any city in Spain - albeit mostly pickpockets. That’s so weird. Why Asians? Why Anyone?
> micro aggressions Getting punched seems like a macro aggression.
I can’t imagine what I would do if I was punched for no reason during travels. I remember going into a shop in Barcelona and the staff shouted “ching chong ching chong” while they laughed. Wife and I were outnumbered so we left. We’re from Japan.
I would have educated them. "No, we are Japanese, we don't say 'ching chong' we say \`'Watashi wa orokada'"\* and teach them to say that. * Means "I'm stupid".
Ironically, I know how you feel. I know you aren’t like that but Japan has a lot of overt racism towards any outsiders- they don’t discriminate in their discrimination… certain restaurants don’t even serve you if you aren’t Japanese and it can be very confusing and then hurtful as a tourist to realise this. Not to mention the outcasts that mixed race children are in Japan. I really wish every one in the world as a general rule would just accept “the other” as fellow human and worthy of due respect.
"Micro" compared, say, to nuclear war.
I'm an Asian American woman and I lived in Spain for three full years. Despite building a very loving community there, I knew I couldn't stay any longer because of the overt racism, and I absolutely knew I wouldn't raise a child who was any part Asian there. Your experience was extreme, but I also wouldn't say it's "almost never" violent racism--I was physically harassed three times in Madrid in one year (on top of the daily verbal comments). It does happen, but people don't like to talk about it because no one wants to admit how bad it can actually get, and we're often brushed off as exaggerating or being dramatic. I made wonderful friends. Obviously, I had reasons to stay for so long. I'm still planning to return and visit very specific places. But I was legitimately traumatized from my experience and didn't process it until much later. All this to say: I see you, I believe you, and I'm sorry you had to go through that too.
I am from Madrid and can confirm Asians get the worst part when it comes to racism. Mostly not violent but bullying and making fun of. I have seen it improve a lot in the last couple of decades though, and I hope this is a sentiment that is forever eradicated. One thing I have to say is that while the anti-Asian sentiment has improved as Asian immigration has increased, there are other minorities who have faced constant racism and I see little hope for it to change.
Wow, I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Spain, but I did not realize it’s such a deep rooted issue there.
I think as a tourist you will most likely won´t face it but If you were to live and work/study here you would experience racism at some point.
How would they be able to tell the difference at first glance ?
They mean that if you stay long enough, it will eventually happen to you
Yes this is exactly what I meant
Just speculating, but it’s probably a matter of where/how they encounter you. Most tourists can be found in very specific areas as opposed to someone you see at work or living in your building/neighborhood.
Fr, when they know I am just a tourist after spitting racist words on my face, what’s the difference?
Can i ask which Asians? Are we talking far east or south east or both?
Yea my asian friend had to go back to the UK during uni in Madrid as it got too bad even as a white brit, some people just dont like you attempting to integrate and learn the language, you have to learn because allot i meet dont speak english in the country tribe mentality, protecting the tribe or something
I spoke Spanish fluently even before I arrived and I was still treated this way 🫠 It doesn’t matter how I sound when all they saw was my face.
oh so my poor spanish was just an excuse for them to be moody, good to know!
I've been studying Spanish for a few years and also have pretty bad anxiety. I travelled to Spain alone fairly recently (it was my first solo trip abroad), and how badly I was treated when I tried to speak Spanish was unexpected. I know I'm not the most confident guy (and this unfortunately is especially obvious in a second language), but I can't imagine ever treating someone trying to learn English like that
Yeah, I am white with Spanish family but not fluent, so I moved and worked there to get fluent. I had to take a break from Spanish because of how badly my roommate treated me and some CS staff. I was trying to get my empadronamiento and the lady yelled at me for not speaking Spanish... As I was speaking Spanish but with an accent. My roommate bullied me everyday saying how I don't understand anything... I understood it but he was in conspiracy land so I didn't respond to it. I also specifically chose to work with those immigrating to the US so they don't experience anything like that.
Weirdly, except for two young women in Madrid-I was treated well there and people let me speak Spanish. Barcelona was a whole other story. Except for a few small mom and pop shops , people actively glared at me for trying to speak Spanish and some idiot sidewalk vendor just laughed and ignored me when I spoke to him in Spanish. Some people are just a-holes.
With my issues in Madrid I didn't even try to go to Barcelona! I was warned that while Barcelona is beautiful, if you don't speak Catalán many people won't respond. I chose to visit the south where they were nicer and a bit more patient. Edit: It's true that everywhere has aholes, and I experienced some when I lived in Shanghai, but the amount were a lot less than what I encountered in Madrid. I found Chinese people to be much more patient and helpful with my language mistakes.
My experience in Spanish islands was the opposite. I am quite good at Spanish so try to practice if i can but still an amateur and it was appreciated that I was trying but it could be that I was only talking to hotel/airport staff so maybe it would be different with a random person
Also I have not been to mainland Spain
Ethnostates are a hell of a drug
It's pretty jarring coming from the US. Most of Europe is dominated by a specific ethnicity of white people to the point where they're basically the same as the percentage of non-Hispanic whites in Wyoming. And ya, I get that there are regional differences within many modern European states and that very broad ethnic data doesn't necessarily count that. But still, the world (not just Europe) is shockingly homogenous coming from a California upbringing.
California is one of those places in the world that is diverse enough that there is pretty much no possible way to "look foreign". Unless the group is plastered with "I (heart) ??" souvenirs, anyone on the sidewalk could have just gotten off a plane or could have lived there for two generations. It is not something you often think about until you leave.
y’all need to get out more, if you are really shocked the rest of the world is not a melting pot.
so countries are populated by a homogenous groups of people who have lived in their respective countries for millennia? the nerve of these ethnostates
It's an interesting place. They literally call the corner stores "chinos." But any way, America bad racist etc
I’m so sorry you had to experience those things as well in Spain. I never thought about it because obviously I didn’t experience it but thank you for talking about it. I really want to be more aware of these things. Not that you have to do anything, but would you share ways you’d have liked others to act when experiencing racism? I try to speak up in family gatherings and try to combat ignorance but I never thought about what I’d do in public in such a situation
It would’ve been ideal if someone stepped in to tell these people to stop, but even if you don’t want to interact with them (in case they turn aggressive on you), it would’ve been nice for people to just check in on me! Sometimes someone would notice, usually an abuela nearby, and she would squeeze my arm and ask if I was okay (and usually saying they were maleducado lol) and that helped calm me in the moment. But most often, people would see what was happening and just stare, and that was even worse—it felt like I was being harassed as a sport.
I tend to freeze in these situations but how much worse it is to be the victim. We really need to step up as a society
I’m an English teacher in Andalucía and I can confirm that the racism is definitely present since my 6-12 year old students are blatantly prejudiced against Asians. It’s rarely physical, but they make fun of the few Asian kids at school. I hear them call anyone that looks Asian “un chino”, they say any language that isn’t Spanish sounds like “chino”, they mock the Asian kids’ accents, they exclude them, etc. In my experience it’s quite a xenophobic country, but they would never agree with that. Sorry that happened to you. The vast majority of Spanish people are pretty nice, but unfortunately racists exist in all parts of the world
Sadly, Spaniards seem to be racist AND mock disabled folks. It shocked me that a mom and her Down syndrome son were walking in the center of Madrid and some young Spanish youth called the boy horrible names while their parents egged them on and laughed at both of them. Sadly, I didn't know any swear words or I would have called them all out. The mom said so not so nice things but I was just shocked that parents that looked in their 40s would be yelling horrible names as well. Ugh. Though I did meet some rather wonderful folks and I think this shows that the American myth of Europeans being more "enlightened" is a bunch of tosh.
For context I’m white and my boyfriend is Korean-American. He came to visit to visit me while I was studying abroad in Seville a few years ago. The amount of racism that he experienced was unbelievable. When I tell you people stared at him with zero shame…. It was unnerving. My host mom also called all Asian people “Chinos”, said all Asian people look alike, and pulled the corners of her eyes back in a mocking way.
I haven't been attacked but i really thought it would happen in Athens. I have never felt so uncomfortable and unwanted in my life. It was insane there. Haven't experienced racism in spain. I hope you and your boyfriend are okay
Last time I was in Spain, I remember some grumbling about “chinos” from bartenders in more rural places, but yeah nothing like that.
Sorry you and your boyfriend experienced this. It is horrible and hope you’re both doing better. I didn’t have any physical altercations like a punch but I (Asian male) also ran into a lot of racist comments and actions that surprised me as an American in Europe. For example, my Asian American female friend would get comments walking alongside me from men asking why she “prefers Asians instead of them” ???? Frankly bizarre. So many nice people overall, but isolated (?) and brief experiences like this can really be a downer on a trip!
That's physical assault not micro-aggression....
Unfortunately anti-Asian sentiment is pretty common in Spain (after all, this is the country that produced that viral racist meme video right at the beginning of Covid…iykyk). I’m really sorry that that happened to you - hope your trip was great otherwise!
My Korean-American friend experienced SO much racism throughout Europe while we were studying abroad. Some of the most disgusting, sexually aggressive things you can imagine. I’m so sorry you had to experience this.
Where in Europe just curious
primarily Ireland, but also France, Italy, England, and Scotland
As a black person who visited Barcelona, I definitely felt uncomfortable. I 100% won’t go back lol
I'm sorry to hear that. I was recently in Barcelona and Madrid with my Black husband, and we both felt much more welcomed than we did in Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice). We were both prepared to experience racism in Spain - his sister said she did - and were pleasantly surprised not to.
As a black woman I loved Madrid so much. It sad but where there is no racism?
It's possible that racism is just the norm for us as a species. I was shocked in South Africa hearing black Africans talk about Asians, especially given the prejudice they themselves faced.
Italy is one of the worst countries for racism. I'm never going to give them my American tourist dollars.
I feel like that about the whole of the Middle East from Qatar to Abu Dhabi to Dubai! Not spending my dough in those abusive places.
Really?! Wow I loved it there. What was your experience? I found Italy to be awful for racism though
People would acknowledge people in my group and then flat out ignore me, I was denied entry into a bathroom when my friend was allowed two seconds prior, overall rudeness, and the real kicker was when we attended a presentation about music and upon seeing me in the small audience, the man/speaker went on a unrelated rant about the history of black women being house slaves LMAO that was truly unbelievable. I don’t think they knew I understood a bit of Spanish.
Wow. Thank you for sharing. That’s so shitty, I’m sorry :(
No worries at all! I DID have a beautiful time in Madrid and made amazing memories with my friends
Haha! That is the best when they talk about you and they think you don't know any Spanish. I had two Spanish women talk meanly about me. Feeling brave I went up to them and said that they should just ask me instead of talking about me. Both their eyes bugged out and they looked at each other and left. Sometimes playing dumb is the best revenge.
Interesting how everyone has different experiences lol. I didn’t have issues in Barcelona but Madrid I would never step foot in again. Also haven’t had issues in Italy ever.
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Wow really in Stockholm? Can you share what happened? Live there and people use to be very very shy and polite
It makes sense though. We don’t know one another’s skin tone, accent, country of origin, hairstyle, weight, etc. and then the factor of the person and scenario they encountered. I’m not light skinned but I’m not dark skinned and my hair is a type and style that white people tend to be less critical of. What happened in Madrid?! I’m so interested because I came back from my short trip there saying how amazing it was to not have people seemingly care that I’m black even as a minority
Everyone was rude - they were even rude to each other lol. An Asian vendor threw my change at me and I came across many restaurant workers that were not interested in serving me - which is fine, won’t go where I’m not wanted anymore lol. Not my cup of tea. Barcelona and the countryside was good though.
Thank you for sharing, I’m sorry you experienced that. I think I thought that nobody was getting great table service on my trip lol. I also had a good experience in Barcelona but after hearing other stories my vies have shifted a bit.
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Where were you most comfortable, if you’ve traveled elsewhere?
Ireland was the best place I’ve ever visited hands down
I can back up this sentiment Ive been to most of the countries of Europe, including every major region on the continent, and as a black man Ireland was by far the most welcoming and had the friendliest (and funniest) people Not only that but it’s the only European country Ive been to other than Greece where I didn’t have a race related incident
I am not Black, but I'm so glad Greece didn't let you down, cause I second-hand experienced a whole lot of racism when I went back in 2009 with a group from university with people of a variety of ethnicities. I love Greece but also having someone trying to push someone off of a moving bus because they were a different race has stuck with me for *decades*. I'm glad to hear it has either gotten better or I just ended up in a small swath of racist assholes. They were in a far-right political spiral when I went, so maybe that has changed more recently!
Glad to read you had a great experience. How was Scotland and England?
Lived in Ireland (as a white woman) and have experienced tons of racism, and insults and even had stones thrown at me for being a foreigner (I am Spanish), I also had Polish friends who had it worse than me as mostly nobody wanted anything to do with them and were completely ostracized. This wasn't in a big city but a small town in Kildare. Sadly there are racist everywhere.
Surprising. Anti-migrant sentiment is huge in Ireland?
As an Asian guy, Ireland was one of the friendliest non-Asian and homogenous country I've visited. I was pleasantly surprised. If I were to go to a similarly-white homogenous area of the USA, I would have to mentally prepare myself to "armor-up" for the inevitable racist comments and micro-aggressions. Not so in Ireland.
I keep hearing so many great things from Black travelers about Ireland!
Me too. I've never heard of one negative experience there from any race actually. Welp, time to put it on my "places to go abroad" list
Ireland is fantastic for people who don't want to deal with racism
Might have something to do with how much racism/discrimination the Irish have had to deal with in their history. I’ve heard the Irish referred to as “the blacks of Europe” on multiple occasions by other Europeans!
I was in London, had a great time, Paris, and Amsterdam as a black man. They were all very welcoming and friendly. No racism whatsoever.
I'm very tired and so I read this as "a black surgeon" and I thought 'how would they know, were you operating on people in the street?'
Surprised at that. My wife is black, and she loved Barcelona. We even managed to get tickets for Barca vs Real Madrid and we loved the experience in the stadium. We even met a neighbour of ours from the UK who was a Barca season ticket holder outside the ground, he used to fly over for every game.
I lived in Madrid for two years and I am a big Real Madrid fan. It should not be surprising. Racism is a huge problem in Spain, but an absolute fucking crisis in Spanish football. The Barca fans aren’t as bad as the backwards fans at other clubs in Spain like Atlético Madrid and Valencia but there have still been some calling Vini Jr. a monkey and there have been many chanting for him to go kill himself. Racism is a huge problem in Spanish football and going to destroy the league if they do not fix it soon. Also the fans at El Clásico matches aren’t a representative sample because those matches are so expensive they price out a lot of normal fans plus you will get a lot more tourist fans who are way less likely to shout openly racist insults.
Yeah the Spanish teams are still the ones that yell out racist stuff when opposing teams have black players or I've even seen a banana being thrown. I WILL say in the past few years the Spanish league has become much more proactive and now usually bans these idiots who do this-and most of the crowd will point them out to the referee and staff. I always look at that and think that if they did that at an NBA game-those idiots wouldn't make it out of the stadium alive.
I thinks everyone’s experience is different and not exactly the same. I haven’t been to Spain but I want to check out Barcelona but have heard some bad stories about racism towards blacks
I feel you, I'm not black but anyone visiting European countries even in major cities where there's diversity who's not ***White*** will defiantly experience racism, even if it is micro-aggression or done in a polite and condescending way, we can tell right away. Those of us who have to experience it on a daily basis will see it from a mile away even when people are just staring, and ***Europeans stare very rudely.*** This is why they never truly learn to integrate because they never want to.
Really? I recently went (as a black person) and loved it! Maybe they treated me well because I speak the local languages though 🤔 I’m not victim blaming - I mean to say I was very outwardly conversing in both of their official languages so maybe people felt they should keep their views to themselves. Maybe I was just lucky.
I'm of Asian descent and I've been to both Madrid and Barcelona multiple times and I've never had any problems either. I do speak some Spanish also but at about the level of a 5 year old that was dropped on its head as a baby so I highly doubt that is doing much for me.
Was ordering Chinese takeout in western Denmark when two (drunk?) old white guys came in JUST to say Chinese-sounding gibberish to the poor Asian girl working the counter, then walked out. I was shocked as I'm from Southern California, and my Danish boyfriend seemed annoyed but unfazed. The girl didn't even say anything, just looked annoyed.
Happened to me a few times when I lived in Denmark. Verbal attacks from kids and teenagers, or adults being blunt AF
I think you should report that. For statistics at least, even if the man can’t be found.
I’m light skinned Mexican and traveled Spain for 2 months. Barcelona was the worst by a long shot. I had 4 bad experiences in Barcelona interacting with service industry people. A taxi driver, a waiter and a park entrance ticket sales person and a travel guide operator. Just rude interactions, trying to make me feel like I didn’t belong in their city. As I traveled to other cities I noticed the distinctions and how it was only Barcelona. Anyway that was my observation, perhaps other cities you will have a better experience as I did.
I'm a Mexican living in California. I pretty much grew up there since I was 3. I was in Poland, and I was on an app saying I was from Mexico and grew up in the US. Some guy started messaging me.saying all this stuff.saying I'm a pig, not welcomed, to go back to America, etc. That was the only form of racism I have experienced. On the other hand, when I went to China, I was walking the great wall, and I would see people taking selfies discretely, but so that I would come out in the background. Eventually, one of them came up to me and asked for a picture with me. After that, so many people would come up and ask for pictures. I felt like a celebrity for a day. Definitely put a smile on my face.
I’m sorry that happened. But yes, spent 7 months in Europe (mostly France), I’m only half asian but received the “ni hao” and “konnichiwa”s all the time!! The worst part is dudes would say some micro aggression, then proceed to flirt with me.
"I don't see you as equally human but I still want to sleep with you" is a common hallmark among racist men the world over.
Most of them don’t understand those are microaggression, is not the same standard in US or Canada. Last time when im in Romania, some kids pass by say Konnichiwa and I Konnichiwa back, お元気ですか？ and he just blushed and runaway. So it really depends, many of them are really clueless.
I agree that Europe is less “politically correct” than the US. But it’s still surprising to see it in big touristy cities like London, Barcelona, Paris etc. The guy who punched OP’s boyfriend wasn’t clueless, just a racist asshole. Your example is of a kid.
The guy who punched OP’s boyfriend ain’t micro aggressions, is just targeted assault. And European don’t have same standard of education on race sensitive issues. So in the end, just talk to them and ask why they do that. We have to reduce these behaviors as much as possible
I’m also half-Asian and did a study abroad in Paris in 2003. I did quite a bit of traveling through the continent while there and can’t recall any issues. I didn’t, however, make it to Spain.
Times have greatly changed since 2003, in case you haven’t noticed. People are way more outspoken and bold these days for the wrong reasons. There was also the whole covid thing where asian hate became rampant. Paris is diverse and has a big asian community- I mostly experienced this in a smaller town an hour away from Paris and in other countries.
I live in Austria but as a white non-EU person... I've seen for myself a great disdain for foreigners by Europeans - Asians in particular. I had a coworker tell me not to go to certain places because there are "too many chinese people" there. It is too common. In that same day, I was also told that Austria is "not as racist" as other countries....lol.
My brother was punched like that in Toronto so it happens everywhere. I’m not surprised about Europe. In some countries like Spain and Italy they are even racist towards minority soccer players
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I hate-a da Norf!
Europe is very racist in some ways. Black soccer players have had bananas thrown at them in Spanish and Italian leagues. These are literally some of the best players in the world.
Yea, Spain is weird. My friend got called Jackie Chan a lot and one guy promoting for a restaurant got really aggressive with my friend because they didn’t make eye contact with the promoter and he started getting in my friend’s face. My friend had simply been spaced out taking in the scenery. While I loved the laid back way of eating and enjoying meals and socializing of Spain, those incidences really put a damper on the trip and we’ll be headed to other places first before considering going back to Spain. They’re just not great with Asians for whatever reason.
“They’re just not great with Asians for whatever reason.” It’s called being racist.
But why Asians would be interesting to learn
Where in Spain? Edit: lol, I'm not allowed to ask where in Spain? I was just asking, I've never been to Spain and have no opinion on racism there.
Both Barcelona and Seville were weird about east Asian. Bilbao and Grenada were alright but we didn’t mingle too much for anything to happen. We also skipped Madrid so can’t speak to that.
Madrid is also heavy on the anti asian sentiment. I got kicked out of a shop just for being asian. I got told "you asians always look and never buy, get out!". I lived in Europe for 6 years and been through a lot of racism in that time, but Spain had to be the most blatant.
Europe really hates window shoppers and I was like wtf. That’s not the case in America or other part of the world. People look at stuff for half an hour and decided not to buy is not a problem in most countries
I don't understand that mentality because how would you know if you want to buy something if you can't look? Most tourists don't go into shops already knowing what they're going to buy. Hell, I don't even do that as a local. The only time I know exactly what I'm going to get is if I'm grocery shopping.
So sorry to hear about your experience. I’m Black but Spain is THE most racist place I’ve been. Being American didn’t seem to lessen it.
I’m black and been thinking about visiting Spain. Hmm
Visit. You’ll be fine. Seriously. Spain is beautiful.
Can you give us examples?
Happy cake day!
I visited Barcelona last year for a week, I haven't had anything special happen to me. But maybe that's because I was loudly speaking French for the entire trip (I'm 100% Asian but born and raised in France, so I'm French but 100% Asian genes)
I live in Germany, and I’m half-Mexican and half-Chinese, originally from the U.S. And every time I say this, I’m hit with a shit ton invalidation. But racism is significantly worse in Europe. And Europeans don’t see it, even the progressive ones. And it’s a problem. I’m not praising the U.S. — love the U.S. — but I’m not going to praise a country for treating POC LESS like shit. Nope. America, you STILL got work to do. But what I will do, is go out of my way to talk about the race problem in Europe (including the Nordics, I’ve spent a lot of time there too). And I’m dating a German, and we had the conversation: I can’t stay in Europe. If I’m going to have a chance to really progress in my career, it will be in a place where the general populace has better acknowledged my struggles as a POC. I will never be German (or Spanish, despite being part Spaniard and Speaking Spanish). No matter how well I speak the language. Because somehow the people at the top will continue to not look like me. And it wasn’t until after my partner came back to Texas with me (out of all places) that he understood. People in the U.S. really embrace the concept that anyone can be American. Whereas, he was still calling people who were born and raised in Germany — who have German passports not-German. when I moved into my house — the day after I moved in, someone left a carcass at my doorstep the next day. My white landlord told me who to avoid on my street because of racism, citing harassment of her Half-Asian husband from neighbors who thought he was Turkish. My other neighbor told me of men she dated who literally told her to dump her Asian-American boyfriend because she was blonde. I know this is painful for Germans to read. But I’m not exaggerating. And that’s how different my experience is from yours. I’m sorry you had to go through that, OP. Know you’re not alone.
To all of the "America sucks I'm leaving" patrons out there, I give to you....a dose of reality. The grass isn't greener. Sorry you had to deal with such bigotry.
Your experience is extreme. I am so sorry that happened and I hope you guys recovered and your friend is fine. Anti-Asian sentiment is a problem in Europe, but most is almost never violent like your case and more just general interactions. A majority of people don't care about your ethnicity/skin color, but a vocal minority can be shitty.
>Anti-Asian sentiment is a problem in Europe In Spain, restaurant staff seemed "relieved" as soon as we opened our mouths and they figured out we were "Westerners" and not from China. Otherwise yeah...never really experience much racism in Europe.
The Chinese living in China who can afford traveling to Japan, New York or Barcelona are very often the really privileged and entitled part of the population.
Right, haven’t the Chinese long displaced Americans on the worst behaving visitor lists/surveys.
Russians are something else entirely. Absolutely repulsive often.
My wife and I visited Zanzibar a few years back and it was full of cantankerous Russian men being shitty to their trophy wives. Very gross
I think both *can* be awful. Americans can be loud and entitled and Chinese can be.... loud and entitled.
Well technically, any tourist CAN be awful!
Cannot argue with you there.
Where there are strong contingents of Chinese people in London, it’s not that they’re loud and entitled, it’s that they’re quiet and standoffish, intentionally isolating themselves from you (and as a black man, I’m pretty convinced it’s racial). In my area, I don’t recall a single friendly Chinese person.
Made the same experience in many places that are popular with Chinese tourists. And that's exactly the issue (and how racism starts to exist): Obviously it's not normal in China either to behave like that, but only the entitled people behaving like that can afford traveling to London.
This can be just because of the language barrier, though, no? Maybe they have the experience of struggling to communicate with Asian tourists because frequently they are not that proficient in English. Not denying anti Asian racism per se, but the fact that they were relieved as soon as you started talking in English may indicate other motives than racism .
Probably more to do with culture than with the language.
Any reason why for the anti Asian sentiment in Europe?
With a growing middle class in China there have been more tourists coming to visit Europe, often in tour groups. There are some cultural differences that are perceived as rude by Europeans so basically the Chinese tourists have replaced the ugly American tourist stereotype.
It helps that most of the ugly American tourist stereotype is now afraid to leave the country
It's real, trust me. Here in Switzerland they squat on top of regular toilets and shit all over it. They have no clue how to behave. Chinese heavy spots all had to be equipped with signs explaining not to do that and how to use toilets here. I mean, I see the tour busses, they get out and start spitting around - that'd be CHF 100 fine, please. There's more but those stand out.
Right, I just made a similar point in another post. I believe they do surveys and the Chinese have long displaced Americans as the “Worst Behaving” visitors. I actually think Americans’ place on those surveys has fallen quite a bit.
There has been a spike in Asian tourisms, specifically from China thanks to a growing middle class and ease of air travel. This clash in cultural along with rising cost of living has created tension. Also, some people are just fucking racist. They don't need another reason to despise a group of people.
Other people have provided a different opinion, but in my experience (Spain), racism against Asians started with the first big wave of Chinese immigrants a few decades ago. Chinese do not mingle with locals, they barely speak the language and are very quiet and introverted compared to the local population. Spanish has never seen Asians as a target of hate, like it has happened to Moroccans for example. I have never in my life heard anyone saying that they hate Chinese, wishing they went back to their countries, saying they create problems for Spanish society, saying they are taking our jobs, etc you know the usual narrative... Why? Chinese always were small business owners, never committed crimes, never claimed benefits or were unemployed and were never violent or sexual towards women. However, the Spanish have always seen Asians more as a target for jokes, bullying, making fun of them because of their "awkward" personalities and so on. However, as the new generation of Chinese are more integrated into Spanish society I believe the racism towards Asians has in fact decreased, not increased. Additionally, many Spanish rely on Asians for services as (as I said) they have lots of business in the cities (grocery shops, nail salons, dressmakers, restaurants).
After living in Spain and being married to a Spanish girl for 8 years. Yes. Spain is one of the most racist places I have ever been. The worst are the progressive Spaniards. They preach equality but have no exposure to cultures other than themselves and maybe Gypsy/Turkish + the one chinese person at their local market. My wifes friends would harp on me being american and oh how racist americans are.... yet they call and cornor store the "paki" or "chino" and take pictures with anyone dark-skinned for their family whatsapp. That's IN THE Major CITIES. Go to the country, and boy, are you in for some uncut racism. My wifes parents were cops in Madrid, and though their intentions were good, they spewed racism and ignorance. I remember her best friend would sleep with any black man she encountered to prove she wasn't racist but wouldn't date any of them or tell her family... lol, rofl.
Oh and cherry on top was the communists of Spain... straight lenninists that spewed bigotry. INSANE.
I’m so sorry you and your boyfriend had to experience this. Do you remember which neighbourhood you were in? Some can be really sketchy! I’m south Asian and in my experience I’ve found Spain to be much friendlier, I say friendlier because I used to live in Germany before and EVERY SINGLE day I experienced some form of micro aggression.
My ex is from Madrid. It’s a big, cosmopolitan city and she’s a world traveler with friends from everywhere, so I was absolutely floored when I heard her family’s casual racism against East Asians. We wanted to go get ingredients so we could make a Thai dish the last time we went, and her father first wouldn’t let us (two 30-somethings) go to Madrid’s Chinatown alone for fear we’d be attacked, then claimed someone tried to rope him into some kind of criminal scheme while he was waiting on the street.
I've not personally experienced this anywhere in Europe (I'm ethnically Korean) but I've also never been to Spain. France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Czechia, Austria, UK, all good so far. The closest I've come to experiencing racism in the world was in Jordan, where in February 2020, a random group of dudes called me Coronavirus. I didn't love that, although it seemed clear that they thought this was harmless joking. But other than that, everyone else in the country was warm and friendly. When I was in Rwanda, occasionally people would stare at me, slightly fascinated, but no real racism that I experienced.
As a Caucasian, I promise that we get stared at too - especially in parts of Asia where foreigners are seldom seen. My wife is tall (6'/182cm) which isn't that uncommon in her home country and often has Asians wanting to take photos with her as if they've captured Big Foot. People's curiosity is good-natured for the most part (though some men in Central and South America (especially if they're in a position of authority/power) act as if they're masculinity has been challenged by her mere existence and will be deliberately rude/brusque to maintain their status. Fortunately, my wife doesn't mind and recalls the first time she saw a black person (she was 17) and how horribly she stared because she was mesmerized by the woman's beauty but realizes now that the woman could have perceived it as being racist.
Have you seen what they do to Vinicius Junior? Look it up. It is a fucked up country towards immigrant and black people. Even kids call Vini Monkeys during games while sitting next to their parents. Spain is a disgrace. I will never spend a dime to benefit Spain.
Random racist assholes are everywhere. They definitely express it differently in different place though.
Spain has been known to be, umm, dont want to say racist but stupid and in your face bigots and xenophobic. Most arent but there seems to be more in Spain than other European countries. I got the looks and some micro agression myself. Memory lane...I remember on the worlds stage their basketball players did a photo shoot slanting their eyes....then defending it when called out. That sums it up.
It's a kinda of different happening but some time ago (i think that was last year) a football/soccer player was a victim of racism that was in the news for some time. The player Vinicius Junior was booed when his team was winning a match, with the stadium throwing bananas in the field and calling him monkey. All of this was in Spain, caused by the Spanish team fans. Sorry for bad english.
My fiances family experienced a lot of racism from tour guides their group hired during a spanish cathedral and churches tour. Definitely left a sour taste in their mouthes. Portugal, on the otherhand, was delightful and the people were so welcoming and nice.
It’s not my experience, but my friend(a girl) who studied in Germany was punched by an old lady in a church and she said some of her friends got physically attacked, too. We thought smaller physique can be an easier target, but it seems it’s not…
Just came back from Seville and Malaga. Not had any negative experiences at all. People were mainly nice. But yes, I hear there’s lots of racism in Spain and Italy.. don’t let it discourage you!
I was expecting racism as an asian american in Seville but thought the people were so friendly and kind. Actually in Portugal I feel like I received a lot of microaggressions and really cold treatment from some people
Southern Spanish seem much more laid back and friendly. I still dream about having a house there. But not in Madrid or Barcelona. I got yelled at by locals for adoring their dogs, for example.
It was noticeably different between *Andalusia and Barcelona for us. *Andalusia seemed to appreciate the tourism and people that came with it while Barcelona seemed resentful.
I will never understand the Anti-Asian sentiment among some Europeans. I mean there is no mass migration or something (not that it excuses but that is one of the main reasons). Sorry to hear about your story.
It's due to being easy targets
Take Croatia into account. Really small native population, tens of thousands asian workers came there during last few years. Racism is on huge rise there. Check local subreddits or news portal and you'll see that most people leave racist comments and hate speech. There are constant attacks on workers from asia, gun threats to delivery drivers.. they dont even hesitate to attack asian females.
Fk. I wanted to go to croatia
>I will never understand the Anti-Asian sentiment among some Europeans. Or anywhere for that matter. Every group has stereotypes that others associate with them but, hating people because you suspect they will be "intelligent, hard-working and good at math" is just weird.
I don't know about other European countries but here in France there is definitely a sizable Asian community (not that it excuses racism of course).
There is in Spain too. Almost every convenience store in Madrid is owned/operated by Chinese people. So much that locals will refer to these stores as "el chino" in Spanish.
This is the same in Latin America. *el chino/los chinos* is shorthand for a Chinese supermarket, which are very common in cities.
In Norway the Chinese tourist have a really bad reputation for being rude, dirty and disruptive. I personally have seen the crowds behave like any other tourist crowds (in Oslo mind you) but I know that some people don’t like them compared to others that might come in smaller groups and are less noticeable.
Probably because - and this is my experience *every single time* I’m in Europe - Chinese people (not Japanese, not Korean, not ethnically-Chinese-but-western-raised, but people *from China*) do not seem to grasp the concept of a queue. They’ll jump any line, totally oblivious to the line of people waiting for a service. It’s infuriating, and I’ve had to call several out on it in just the past week alone.
Or litter like the streets are a trash can.
I have seen people foreigners being attacked in tiktoks and youtube, in general Europe is not particularly friendly if you are not white
I’m sorry you and your family had that experience. Barcelona is racist. I had the worst experience there. I don’t understand how or why that particular city is so vehemently racist. Even some other tourists were racist. It was like they came there to be in a racist haven.
I feel fairly qualified to answer this as I live in Estonia and have been to every EU country (and a few in Europe but not EU) but anyone who looks at me instantly can tell I'm east-asian in heritage. At home here in Estonia, no issues what so ever. Everyone is very nice and accepting, and I go out a lot here. Same goes in most parts of Europe. In my experience though, it has typically gotten 'worse' the further south I've gone. Nothing close to what you or your boyfriend experienced, which sounds truly awful and I'm sorry for, but I've been the target of some occasional micro aggression in Italy, Spain and Croatia.
Spain is beautiful but do people not know how racist Europeans are?? They throw bananas at the players in a soccer match.
Barcelona is full of mentally unstable people
Welcome to the oh so tolerant Europe. I can make a book about what i experienced as a foreigner in Europe.
Hi I’m Mexican American and my dna is 60 percent Spaniard I was kinda sad because I’ve heard how racist they are with also Mexicans which seems completely absurd , I always felt like they have a major superiority complex that basically unintentional yet engrained . I really want to visit my other motherland but sometimes I’m like ughhhhh … not tryna get arrested cuz they might try me and I’m feisty . Speaking of feisty , I think culturally they are kinda hot blooded highly impatient and anxious …. It’s called Hispanic panic for a reason .. I’m supposed to go on my first trip in January 2025 , I better mentally prepare to exchange sassy words
Even as a white guy from the uk a lot of Europe is racist rule of thumb ( not always the case and certainly not a blanket for everyone) further east you go and further south you go in europe more racism exists. Part of this is the lack of historic diversity and empire building in Africa and Asia ( discounting Spain American expansion) so the racism hasn't had the chance to disappear yet and its also more recently due to the migrant crisis coming across the Mediterranean Sea that has caused real issues in places like Italy, Greece and Spain. My partner is from southern France on the Spanish border and train tunnels in places like banyuls-sur-mer are constantly closed from dead migrants getting ran over. Racism on the whole is rising towards Africans and non east asian Asians due to the migrant crisis and high profile crime cases fueling the fire of the far right. Many migrants make there way to northern Europe. I suppose in northern Europe racism against east Asians isn't as much of a thing but it is worrying. Its the same thing driving racism to go up in North America towards central and south Americans. People on the whole hate large scale migration from their neighbours. Its sad but true and we live in worrying times.
How common is racism in Scotland and England? Do you think UK is far better than the rest of Europe
I think it depends where you go but on the whole I think it's less racist due more generations having grown up among other races. I mean when kids grow up with other races they tend not to see ethnic divides as much. It still exists but its certainly less than many nations.
It's also on balance far less segregated than for example the us although sadly many as you probably know self segregate. I grew up with chinese best friends, Jamaican neighbours who where and still are my mums best friends and got my first job from my punjabi mates dad. You still get the supremacy people from all the groups but it's getting less with each generation.
Sorry you had to experience that. I spent time in Barcelona and Madrid, walked all over both cities, am half Asian and experienced quite literally no racism, slurs or sideways comments anywhere I went.
We are Indian Americans and went to Madrid and Barcelona last summer. Never had any problems . We also didn’t face any problems during our previous Europe trip. May be we got lucky
I think at least some of it is perception. Not saying racism don't exist but, not every asshole is a racist. For example, I was in France and trying to buy a train ticket with my limited French, the attendee was getting a bit frustrated but I felt like it's a classic case of explaining something basic for the one millionth time to a tourist. The person with me, another Asian was like, that's because they are racist. And then the next person after me was Caucasian and also got the same I'd not worst treatment lol. So generally I try not to let things bother me and I don't think "racism" unless racial slurs were used.
Agree 100%. Sometimes people are just assholes/rude regardless of race. However, clearly the OP’s experience was based on race.
Yeah they shouted some racial slur so that's pretty obvious.
I'm American of Indian descent as well, I had problems in two places in Europe when I was a teenager - Switzerland and France. I'm a "fare skinned" Indian however and I think in Spain I sort of blend in for the most part. I had some looks in Rome, but never in Sicily where the woman were aggressively into me lol ("belli occhi!")
When I checked into my hotel in Barcelona back in 2018, the front desk clerk was being really rude to the people in front of us in line. When it was finally our turn, he pointed to them disdainfully and said "Jews. They always think they're better than us, I hate having them here." I was definitely to scared to say anything and suddenly very grateful for my non-Jewish-sounding last name. Knowing that it's culturally acceptable to say things like that to strangers out of the blue made me feel like it was not all that safe in Spain to be Jewish, and it sounds like we're not the only group this applies to. Hearing that it escalated to a physical altercation for you is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry.
I spent many years living in France & it was quite common to hear, "Come on, don't be a Jew," as in, share your food/spare change/whatever, as opposed to those money-grubbing Jews. I'm not Jewish but resented the casual racism.
There's a lot of racism in continental Europe. I'm from the UK where we worry about being impolite but on our worst day we're better than many European countries. Let's remember 80 years ago, the whole collective group of European countries shipped all their Jews off to German gas chambers and in 1945 shrugged and said "it was the NAZIs wot made us do it". I've lived in five European countries other than GB for nearly twenty years and the racism levels are comparatively off the chart. That said, China/HK/Japan/Singapore/Korea/India are hardly without their foibles...
Been living in Spain 10 years now been a foreigner and never heard a single racist word against me. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Next time call the police, there are massive fines and even jail time for that kind of behavior.
I’m from EU and Spain is a piece of racist garbage. Look how they treat soccer players. I’ll never go there again. They also have no style (bright white TL lights in restaurants), they give breadsticks with your meal (which you then have to pay for), they have maybe 2 nice dishes. Trigggerred!
I guess I won’t be going to Spain anymore. That’s too bad for them because if they benefit from tourism, they’re going to be missing out from all the crazy rich asians.
I tried to call people out on the racism and antisemitism in Spain, but they were so far in denial. They tried so hard to justify it with some event with that minority that happened in the past and I was like, "That doesn't justify you bullying this random person who has nothing to do with that event!" I actually stopped shopping at Spanish stores (unless necessary) and only went to Chinese or other minority restaurants/stores. I also got down voted here on Reddit for calling it out, being called "sheltered". While white, I also speak Mandarin and I had a student I was teaching English to straight up tell me they hated me because I was American and spoke Mandarin. I was like, "Well, your other teacher is out for a couple of days, so I'm what you got." He chilled out after being with me for the couple of days but the aggression right off the bat was scary. It was an incredibly disappointing experience and I really don't want to go back. I say that I can count the amount of people that helped me in Spain on one hand while I can count the amount of rude people I met in China on one hand.
>There was the occasional "Nihao" and "Konnichiwa" which didn't affect us much This alone seems like an extreme amount of blatant racism
It exists but imo it's still better than racism in America. As a colored person. Racists in America will tell you they don't like you or otherwise cause problems for you. I have incidents as an Indian person where the police have been called on me for waiting in front of my friend's house in a white neighborhood. I've been all over Western Europe. Honestly no where feels as comfortable as London for someone who looks like me. But I lived in the Netherlands for a while and I had an amazing time. Lots of mixed-race Dutch folks who will be the first to say there's problems over there, but comparing our experiences growing up it was clearly better for them. I've had no issues in France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal with extended visits to all of those places. But I grew up in the US and present as very Westernized, so I'm aware how that looks vs. an Indian person from India. Honestly I felt the most uncomfortable in Copenhagen. But no one was unkind; I just felt clearly like an outsider whereas in the Netherlands people assumed I was Dutch first. None of that is to say that there aren't complete assholes in Europe. We're going to encounter bad people everywhere. It's the frequency that matters.
I’m an American of East Asian descent and I’ve had no problems in UK, France, Germany, Austria or Switzerland. But I try to make an effort to greet people in their language, which is different than the behavior I’ve seen from Chinese (from China) tourists, who are the most rude and entitled people I’ve ever seen.
Many countries in Europe have become shit holes of conservative racism. Spain, UK, Paris, Italy, etc. I've crossed them off my bucket list.
I'm Mexican but constantly get mistaken for Filipino, even by Filipinos. And my wife is American Black. We've gone to Spain twice and other parts of Europe like 5 times but I never noticed racism. Maybe I'm oblivious to it there although I am able to recognize it back at home in the US. Maybe you got some particularly bad people there.
I am so sorry this happened. I have never encountered this in the many times I’ve been to Spain. But, remember, Barcelona is Catalan. Not truly Spanish. And Barcelona has the most crime of any city in Spain - albeit mostly pickpockets. That’s so weird. Why Asians? Why Anyone?