[Gocamino] Spanish mores and customs

[crhutchin at verizon.net]

I had a good chuckle reading Rebekah's email regarding Women travelers  
at a disadvantage.   It reminded me of some memories when I was a boy  
in Spain. The year was 1961 and I was a ten-year-old boy living in  
Madrid.  Some friends and I had gone to the swimming pool at the  
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for the first time.  We were in the men’s  
room changing into our bathing suits, when two young women with their  
young boys come in and helped their boys change into their suits.   
Naked men all around and no one said or batted an eye.  As I learned  
over the summer, this was quite a normal occurrence.  Fast-forward a  
trip with some Spanish friends to a beach on a river outside Madrid.   
There was no where private to change clothes, so it was done in the  
open.  Again, no complaints or comments (except for us young boys and  
among ourselves.  Lastly, I was on holiday in Benidorm (when it was  
still a fishing village) with my mom and it was early in the morning  
when we were woken up by some women and men yelling.  Looking out the  
window there were tow British ladies in bikinis being scolded by the  
Guardia Civil who were telling them to put on a proper bathing suit or  
risk arrest.

Cheers!  Cullen