by Allan Wall, Mexico Daily Post, ©2023
(May 24, 2023) — Historically, Spain has a massive influence on Mexico: the language, the culture, the religion, and the demographics. It’s obvious.
But did you know it’s not all a one-way street? Contemporary Spain has also been influenced by Mexico.
My two sons and I, who lived many years in Mexico, recently visited Spain, and we saw these many cultural links firsthand.
The language is a big part of it, but it’s more than that. It’s the general cultural ambiance. I felt like Spain and Mexico were part of the same overarching culture.
I learned Spanish as an adult. My Mexican wife and I raised our two sons bilingual. Therefore, they speak both English and Spanish as native languages.
Some Spaniards picked up on their Mexican Spanish accent.
We got the impression that Spaniards liked Mexicans. They might be afraid to go to Mexico, given the violence, which is understandable, but they don’t have anything against Mexicans.
Several of them did, however, have some critical things to say about the current Mexican government of Presidente Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO). Mexico is “very badly governed,” said one Spanish lady. But she wasn’t attacking the Mexican people.
Nowadays there are Mexican restaurants in Spain. I saw one in Sevilla and several in Madrid. There’s even a chain of Mexican restaurants in metropolitan Madrid called “La Mordida”, with 9 restaurants, one of which we went to.
And just so the visitor has no doubt that it’s a Mexican restaurant, La Mordida’s décor was jam-packed with Mexican stereotypes: papel picado, Mexican flags, a Calavera, the El Santo wrestler, the Katrina, El Chavo del Ocho, the Aztec Solar Stone and a live Mexican guitar player to serenade the customers.
Well, actually the guitar player, with whom I spoke, was Peruvian. But he was posing as a Mexican and that’s the point!
Bottom line: there’s obviously a demand for Mexican food in Spain!
Read the rest here.