Findings of a survey of rudeness in Spanish cities have triggered debate in Tenerife, following the poor rating given to the island’s capital.
Widely praised by visitors for its friendliness and laid-back lifestyle, Santa Cruz appears to generate very different sentiments among its own residents, whose views have seen it identified as the rudest city in the country.
The survey by online language learning platform Preply interviewed more than 1500 residents across 19 areas of Spain and asked them how often they encounter rude behaviour. The data was then analysed to establish a ranking of the locations on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest rating for rudeness).
The worst performer was Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with the reasons cited by respondents including people spending all day glued to their phones, watching videos on their phones in public with the volume turned up, and – in the case of drivers – driving with little consideration near pedestrians and not giving way to other cars.
Other indicators assessed in the survey included the tipping culture in cities and here too Santa Cruz fared badly, receiving a low rating.
The combination of factors led Santa Cruz to be given an overall rudeness rating of just over 6 out of 10, placing the Tenerife capital above Granada (5.95) and Elche (5.81). The Top 5 of the rudeness table was completed by two cities in the Basque Country: San Sebastián (5.77) and Bilbao (5.73).
In contrast to the poor perception of Santa Cruz, the Canaries’ other big city, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, was rated much more positively by its residents and the overall score of 5.39 was enough to position it as the sixth most polite city of those surveyed, an outcome that is certain to further fuel the permanent rivalry between the two capitals of the Canaries.
Although the survey by Preply, which regularly publishes studies of behaviour in countries across the world, was conducted some time ago, its findings were picked up and discussed by Spain’s COPE radio station this week.
The coverage given to the ‘rude cities’ list has sparked an interesting debate on the habits and behaviours that are now considered rude, many of them the product of invasions of personal space caused by inconsiderate use of smartphones.
The phenomenon is particularly prevalent on public transport, although it is not just passengers who are guilty. Despite signs on buses asking passengers to show consideration for others when on board by not using their phones to watch videos or play music, many bus drivers make their journeys more pleasant for themselves by playing music from their devices within earshot of passengers.
