Do Europeans hate the Brits?

[Floofydawg]

We're in Spain at the minute and have encountered some pretty hostile behaviour. Not so much from the Spanish, as we speak the language, but from other Europeans. We've been coming here many years and I've never before encountered such hostility. It got me thinking, do many Europeans dislike the Brits?

I know! I have family in France and Spain and they are familiar with Ireland/Irish but have no NI differentiation. Wales is one place they are fuzzy/don’t know what/where.

They understand English as nowadays as it is an international language on holiday, but English with a really strong accent is hard for them to understand.

@CherryValley5 wasn't being nasty, it's the truth from what I've encountered. I get the same when they find out I'm Scottish and not English.

Sorry, meant to quote the poster who said it was a nasty post!

Thank you, I think, but it's really not as unusual as you think!

Oh it was a compliment. That is nice to know. I don't really see what good wallowing in past history and harbouring hatred towards a particular nation for something that happened donkey years ago actually does. I say this for any history. It isn't just directed at Irish/Welsh or Scots.

Don't you think that, given the history of NI, it wasn't exactly an enticing place for anyone to move pre-1997 and probably many years after that?!!

Anecdotally I think we are catching up on diversity. Given any day in Tesco you will hear multiple languages whereas back in the day there were a few Indians and Chinese and that was it. I work for a large employer and we have a lot of non-NI born staff now, mainly Polish, I would say.

Can I also point out that many English people are not white??

From a long way back:

What's so distinctive about an Irish number plate that random folk in Croatia will instantly be able to see it and say 'Oh great. The people in that car are Irish, not English. I can like them!'

My numberplate is indeed is very distinctive, says IRL on it, has a tricolour on it, and also has an EU flag on it, which Croatians are particularly alive to.

It's funny that so many Scottish/Welsh/Irish people say peoples "attitudes change" when they realise they're not English, because as an English person I've never ever had any sort of bad attitude from anyone in Europe, the vast majority have been extremely friendly and lovely. So I just wonder what attitudes people are getting before they "realise they're not English". Just comes across as wanting to put down the English as usual and pretending like you suddenly get some special service or something.

I do agree. I hate all of this harking back to past history, wallowing in wrongs and avenging those wrongs. It's ridiculous. In NI, it's more religious bias than nationality, which is equally insane given that it's based on nothing more than an accident of birth. We are where we are and we deal with that. I can add that our children have been reared pretty much bias free. They don't care about religion or politics or history (other than as exploring the past out of interest; two of my three did 'A' level history as I did too back in the day).

Things have changed in NI but probably more for the middle classes. I think we've pretty much dug ourselves out of that particular shitheap. I do know, through my work, and am often taken aback, that the old enmities are still alive and kicking in more disadvantaged, working class estates in Belfast and beyond. It's actually devastating to see how the hated is in-bred even now.

Glad we found some common ground!😉

That's not what most posters are saying!

People will be perfectly pleasant and polite, but if they find out that you're Irish/Scottish, they just up the ante that little bit. I can't explain it any better than that!

Live example tonight. Chatting to a Belgian waiter as I asked where his accent was from. He then asked where we were from and I said England, but husband said but I'm Irish. Waiter laughed and said well that's better than being English.

I'm not sore it is that, 95% of Scottish people identify as White and they didn't have the NI history.

I know that many English people are not white that's why I provided that London statistic.

He sounds like a twat.

Think they hate those Brits who stay in all inclusive hotels and never venture outside the hotel area, spending sod all in shops, tourist attractions etc.

Nor like those who demand British food, cry if they don’t have certain things like brown sauce. Yes I have seen men crying because the cafe had no brown sauce. Many countries may think brown sauce is gravy.

Never had a problem with me being British abroad.

@IVFmumoftwo yeah, he didn't get a tip.

Yes, rather bold as a waiter as well as he may not know how the poster would react!

I'm Scottish, have lived in Germany for 30 years. People occasionally ask me where I'm from if they notice my accent or hear me speaking English to my son. The reaction has never been negative. The usual comment is: what a beautiful country! I would love to go there.

The funniest one was when I was speaking English to my son during a taxi journey and the driver asked me what language I was speaking. "English? That was English? I thought it was Russian."

I think in some parts English people are viewed as entitled, loud, loutish etc
Irish/Scottish are seen as a bit more humble so do often get friendlier treatment.
It is of course a generalisation and frequently not accurate but has been an attitude for many years, long before Brexit.

I've literally had this happen when we've said we were English too, especially when off the beaten track.

Think they hate those Brits who stay in all inclusive hotels and never venture outside the hotel area, spending sod all in shops, tourist attractions etc.

Isn't that kind of what all inclusive resorts are about? It's not my sort of thing, but a lot of people like having everything they need in one place.

And the British are actually known for being high spenders. It's the Germans and Dutch who have the reputation for being tight.

Not if you're from the Republic of Ireland, no.

Yep - The NI that my 20 yo DD has grown up in and the NI that I grew up in are two very different places, I’m glad to say. She had a very mixed upbringing and I’m proud of the fact that she genuinely didn’t know the difference between catholics and protestants (or even what side of the fence our family originates from! 🤣) until her early teens, the fact that religious differences don’t enter most young people’s minds shows that we have come a long way.

It is depressing however to drive though certain areas and see that the segregated mentality is still alive and well in a minority of people, and that these beliefs are sadly being fed into their children. We live in south Belfast (contrary to the username!) and it does shock me that despite living in a lovely, mixed area just a few minutes away there are estates where catholics (or realistically anyone who isn’t ’one of them’) still cannot live without fear of abuse, threats or worse..

I wonder where some of the posters go on holiday. I have never experienced any ami English negativity in Europe. I wonder if some have a perception of how they think Europeans see us from the media they watch or read and so they feel on the look out for perceived slights.
I also think there is some truth in the over tourism that people are fed up with and protesting about, maybe some places are less friendly currently?

I have never experienced rudeness or a bad attitude when people think I am English. But there is often an increased friendliness when people find out I am Irish. Not all the time but I have definitely experienced it quite a lot whilst abroad. Unfortunately the English do have a bit of a bad reputation abroad. I think Americans have a similar negative reputation.

Have you considered that he may have just been making banter?