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?

Dh and I have travelled very widely, in both Europe and much further afield, and can honestly say we’ve never encountered hostility - rather the reverse.

Mind you there was once an incredibly rude and unpleasant woman when we were skiing in Austria - but she was a Scot who evidently hated anyone English.

Irish here too. Attitudes changes immediately once Europeans realise that although we are speaking English we are not actually English. It's directly relevant to the OP's question - we are treated one way (quite coldly) when people think we are English. As soon as it becomes clear we are not English we get a much warmer reception.

This generation especially, a lot of countries seem to hate other countries.

They see the differences , rather than the similiarities

It wasn't nasty at all - it's always been my experience too. And it's completely relevant to the OP's question.

Yes same here. Very different response when I say I am Scottish.

Wow, so philosophical. 1000s of years of history erased + forgotten. Nobel Peace Prize to you🏆

What exactly do people mean when they say that people 'treat them badly' when they assume that they're British or English? But that the 'treatment' magically changes when they hear they're Irish or Scottish? What is this 'treatment' they speak of?

I sometimes wonder if these 'attitudes' aren't in the heads of the posters themselves. And if people are indeed treating them poorly on the assumption that they're a certain nationality, doesn't that say more about them than about the English or British? Would it be OK for English people to be unpleasant towards visitors on the basis of their assumed nationality?

Everything! The OP asked if the British were hated. I wouldn't go as far as "hated" but we always get a better reception when we say we're Irish. We're also British.

When I have holidayed in Europe, the only aggro I've had has been from Brits. Why? Because we were conversing in 'German'. They did concede that we spoke good English.
We're Welsh.

Absolutely can be both. I am.

I've been in Spain and Portugal this year and had nothing but really lovely interactions with the locals. Occasional sad head shakes that we've left the EU but otherwise everyone has been lovely. I've not been in places like Barcelona or Majorca though where there seems to be a growing dislike of mass tourism.

I live in an Eurpean country in a place very popular with tourists and I am fortunate to be a dual citizen .. I and many of my friends dont over genralise but we dont like anyone who is rude and disrepectful of the place , doesn[t do the minimum amout of research as to where they are visiting. There are a couple of nationalities that are worse than others and the Brits are not amongst them !!

No...Irland is a different country still in the EU...You're only British if you're from Northern Ireland.

I've lived and travelled all over and never experienced any hostility. Quite the opposite, Brits seem to be held in high regard. Tourists from anywhere are welcomed as it obviously boosts economies.

Still, as demonstrated on this thread there will be xenophobes wherever you go, best to ignore.

And I will explain it to you again that I am simply commenting on my own knowledge and building upon what other posters have already said, it’s you who keeps quizzing me. Unfortunately I am not Spanish so I cannot answer from their perspective.

In my opinion it's all down to history and who hurt who in history. Some people have long memories and don't let things go.

No one hates the Irish because the Irish never invaded anywhere in history, because they were a small country.

A lot of the other countries in Europe have invaded each other at some point.

Germany were most recently, the most destructive country in Europe. Their country committed huge atrocities around Europe

Though I've never hated a German person because of their country's past. Its not that person's fault.

We’ve holidayed across France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Austria over the last 7 years and the only time I’ve ever experienced any kind of hostility is when I’ve used the wrong language eg German in Belgium (bad move, very bad move!), but otherwise there was a keen interest in our take of Brexit just after it happened and this year more French people wanting their own version of Brexit. I’ve never been made to feel anything less than welcome or encouraged with my poor attempts at speaking in the language of the country I’m in.

Xenophobia goes hand in hand with racism. The sort of (low IQ) person who hates a particular nationality will hate other races too.
The sort of person who is rude to English people purely because of where they were born isn't going to be welcoming to black people, let's face it. Hence people on Black Mumsnetters having to post about where they can go on holiday without facing hostility.
Those crowing about being a popular nationality need to realise it's dependent on them being white.

I do think there is a bit of anti english sentiment in places.

Mainly to do with Britain colonising countries long ago

The Scots, Welsh and Irish all participated in the expansion and/or maintenance of the British Empire.

The main reason Scotland united with England was to get access to the English colonies.

Yes...but I assume Northern Irish? Which is not the same as being Irish.

The only hostility in this thread is the OP's failure to give even the broadest hint as to the alleged hostility experienced - is it just their projected hostility towards foreigners?

I wonder if it's more a case of the Brits hate Europeans. (bloody Germans putting their towels on the sun loungers at 6 am)

Or maybe it's that the Brits hate the Brits. (all those lager louts who ruin everything for everyone)

I've lived and travelled all over and never experienced any hostility. Quite the opposite, Brits seem to be held in high regard. Tourists from anywhere are welcomed as it obviously boosts economies.

Yes, and British tourists are in general known to be high spenders, unlike certain other nationalities who are renowned for their stinginess.

I'd say generally no, most people take people as they come, but I think there can be negativity attached to being (specifically, maybe unfairly) English, sometimes. Like a PP said though the reasons can be very different in different countries- in European countries it's not about colonialism (other than Ireland, I guess), it's more us having a reputation for drunkenness and having a lack of respect for local people and cultures.

So, in parts of Spain we unfortunately have a reputation for getting too drunk and behaving like arseholes (if you spend time on Spanish social media you might come across the word "balconing"- basically tourists, often British, who get pissed and injure themselves jumping off hotel balconies...

In other parts of the world it would be because of colonialism, but it's not just the British who are disliked, it's the people who colonized that country. So French in Morocco or Algeria for example.

A couple of years ago I visited Vietnam, and I was told several times by locals that they were glad tourists were returning after COVID, except the Chinese tourists. Quite a few people commented on how they didn't like how the Chinese behaved in Vietnam - not that unlike the reputation we have in parts of Spain tbh.

Eh?! I just can't be arsed giving the details. But hey, it's clearly my fault I've had people be openly rude to me 🙄