Should I be sad that the behaviour, that once stopped me from going to Spain, is still happening ?
Brits abroad have a woeful reputation for drunkenness, drugs abuse and violence whether it be while following our football teams around or when on vacation.
Once upon a time all you ever heard was about the lager louts in Torremelinos or Fuengirola. Well the net has spread much wider and now apparently also encompasses France, Cyprus, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
So in answer to my own question, Yes I am sad. On the bright side I now don’t let the behaviour of the minority stop me from enjoying myself and visiting these wonderful countries. What I do now is travel to the quieter parts or visit out of season.
A few years ago my wife and I visited Malia, Crete. The travel agent warned us that it was very noisy but should be OK as we were visiting out of season. She was right.
Although there were wall to wall bars and clubs with restaurants offering traditional English Breakfasts and Sunday Roasts we were able to eat traditional local cuisine although quite often the local dishes were at the back of the menus. Now that is sad.
Last year we visited Cyprus, renting a villa which was outside of town, Coral Bay, which to us looked like a mini Benidorm. We did not venture into Coral Bay preferring to go out into the local villages where there were fewer gaudy lights and loud music and definitely no English Pubs with Satellite TV and Karaoke.
So these wonderful countries are still out there to be visited, cherished and explored despite the best efforts of the rowdy minority to give us, the travelling Brit, a bad reputation. All it takes is a little effort to break out of the mould and away from the package holiday resorts.
And as a footnote, take a look at this article. Poor Richard Gaisford got himself a smack. Apparently from a bar owner who didn’t want the adverse publicity from preventing him from making money out of the good old English Lager Lout.
WrAnTz 