Lanzarote says it is fed up with having so many British tourists visiting the island - and wants FEWER UK holidaymakers!

Callistemon21

Fleurpepper

Callistemon21

Fleurpepper

Ask them in Budapest, or Ibiza, or Ayanapa.

them

Which them?

The locals, clearly.

Oh, do you personally know a lot of locals in Budapest, Ibiza, Ayanapa who have told you this?

I know of locals in Mallorca that told me it. 'Wish they'd go home.' 'Drunken louts, day and night. Not wanted here.' 'Low morals.'

Not aimed specifically at the Brits working there too but it was implied as well. Although I'm so introverted I found the Spanish loud, but still... give a dog a bad name.

Lanzagrotty has not got a lot going for it to attract “better class” higher spending tourists, it has got to compete with Dubai in the premium market and I doubt very much if they are going to invest enough to achieve that.
Many resorts and countries are trying to move upmarket, a ski resort in Switzerland is always going to be expensive, in France or Italy you can go for a week self catering at a fraction of the cost, the main difference is the people you meet. It’s the same with hotels and cruises it’s a mistake to go too expensive or too cheap you probably won’t enjoy it.

Urmstongran

What do other countries offer the Brits abroad?
The Weather!
Lots of people just want a pretty much guaranteed sunny holiday. What they eat or do once there is secondary to that.

What they eator do once there is secondary

I'd disagree with this. Locals, anywhere in the world, like people to be open-minded and try the local foods they produce and prepare, with love. When you go to some resorts, and all the Cafés are British owned and serve fish and chips, sausage and chips, beans on toast, etc, with English beer- then it is not good for the local economy. Nor is it for good relations and respect.

We have been on several holidays where we cringed and apologised profusely afterwards, to local staff really upset- after they were told (shouted at)- 'we are not eating this foreign muck- bring us some proper English food'. Several times, and in several countries (Bulgaria, Morroco, France, Tenerife).

We have been on several holidays where we cringed and apologised profusely afterwards, to local staff really upset- after they were told (shouted at)- 'we are not eating this foreign muck- bring us some proper English food'. Several times, and in several countries (Bulgaria, Morroco, France, Tenerife)

Why on earth would you shout at staff in a restaurant? Then have to apologise?
😲

When you go to some resorts, and all the Cafés are British owned and serve fish and chips, sausage and chips, beans on toast, etc, with English beer- then it is not good for the local economy

Well I’d disagree with this Fleurpepper as who do you think delivers the bread, eggs and ice etc to these bars and cafes? Yes! The locals, in their vans! I’ve seen them.

And the bars & cafes pay their taxes to the local economy, plus the council rates.

Well you must visit some down market places and eateries, I've been all over Europe and some far flung places and never experienced this.

Oh dear!

No, we certainly never shouted at staff in restaurants- but witnessed it many times, sadly. Doh!

My last post was for Fleurpepper.

Oh I think Fleurpepper was apologising to the establishments on behalf of Brits Abroad in general Calli.

Urmstongran

^When you go to some resorts, and all the Cafés are British owned and serve fish and chips, sausage and chips, beans on toast, etc, with English beer- then it is not good for the local economy^

Well I’d disagree with this Fleurpepper as who do you think delivers the bread, eggs and ice etc to these bars and cafes? Yes! The locals, in their vans! I’ve seen them.

And the bars & cafes pay their taxes to the local economy, plus the council rates.

Yes they do. But psychologically and culturally, the message is there. And if those goods were delivered to Spanish (or ..) local restaurants, owned by locals, where food is prepared and cooked, and served, by locals, it would be even better for them

But it is the 'rejection' of local foods and culture that upsets people.

I like to do both Fleurpepper as I dare say do many holidaymakers. I don’t think seeing people at one type of venue means they ignore local cuisine. Maybe just some days, in the sun, they really fancied fish and chips with a pint or a pot of tea! Next day - who knows - they could be eating locally sourced and cooked dishes. Variety is the spice of life so it is said.
😁

Fleurpepper
I think something got lost in translation.
You seem to have missed the point that you are frequenting these same eateries as the lower classes.
Why would you do that when you find them so offensive to your sensibilities.

Oh MerylS- stop that nonsense!

I do accept that many British tourist behave badly overseas but they are just as bad at home when they are drunk, 9n holiday some are drunk all the time on cheap booze which is one of the attractions.
Food, we have a wide variety of food in the UK these days, pizza, Pasta, Rice, Curry, Chinese are commonplace, although there are national variations I have found there are many similarities, calling it “foreign muck” is just the drink talking. Expecting different cuisine on a trip to Peru we were surprised to have Rice and Chips served with every meal and meat was usually Alpaca ( like lamb).

But it is the 'rejection' of local foods and culture that upsets people.

Is it only the British owned restaurants that cause offence abroad? What about the Chinese, French, German etc restaurants that serve their local menus? I have seen plenty of those in Spanish resorts.

Urmstongran

Oh I think Fleurpepper was apologising to the establishments on behalf of Brits Abroad in general Calli.

What - all of us?

No need, honestly, I'll try most things!
Except for fish eyes, squid and tapioca.

Parsley3

^But it is the 'rejection' of local foods and culture that upsets people.^

Is it only the British owned restaurants that cause offence abroad? What about the Chinese, French, German etc restaurants that serve their local menus? I have seen plenty of those in Spanish resorts.

I have seen McDonalds Burger Kings (American) and Italian restaurants in every single country in the world along with Chinese, Indian, French, German, Thai, Malaysian far more prevalent than Fish & Chip shops.

Fleurpepper

Oh dear!

No, we certainly never shouted at staff in restaurants- but witnessed it many times, sadly. Doh!

I don't think I ever have

Trying to think .....

Without wishing to tar all British tourists with the same brush, because it's generally a minority that give the rest a bad name, I can see why a place like Lanzarote, with a small population and a sensitive environment, might feel overwhelmed by a certain type of tourist. Those who make no effort to learn even a little of the language, those who won't eat the local food, those who treat the locals as their servants, those who strip to the waist and swagger down the street with cans of lager in their hands singing football songs.

I'm sure British tourists who engage with the local culture and respect it will continue to be welcome in Lanzarote.

MerylStreep

Fleurpepper
I think something got lost in translation.
You seem to have missed the point that you are frequenting these same eateries as the lower classes.
Why would you do that when you find them so offensive to your sensibilities.

And there I was, thinking we should all model ourselves on Fleurpepper, whether it’s on holiday, or life in general. Our very own gransnet expert on any OP we can name

Sadly it's the noisy ones that cause trouble that get remembered.

We stayed with friends in a small, non-touristy town in Greece some years ago and were the talk of the town. Most of the older residents had apparently never met a Brit and when we went out for a drink in the evening we had obviously become a resident-attraction. My friend told me they were waiting for us to get drunk as they knew all Brits were drunkards 🤣 They would have had a long wait as neither of us drink much alcohol and I don't think we had more than one drink each while we were there. But it gave me a shock at the time that people thought so badly of us.

Fleurpepper

Oh dear!

No, we certainly never shouted at staff in restaurants- but witnessed it many times, sadly. Doh!

Well, I was surprised, never thought you would.

But I can't remember seeing anyone do this and I wouldn't apologise for them.

We have been on several holidays where we cringed and apologised profusely afterwards, to local staff really upset- after they were told (shouted at)- 'we are not eating this foreign muck- bring us some proper English food'. Several times, and in several countries (Bulgaria, Morroco, France, Tenerife).

Oh, give over - you just made that up!

Unless you frequent real dives.

LadyHonoriaDedlock

Without wishing to tar all British tourists with the same brush, because it's generally a minority that give the rest a bad name, I can see why a place like Lanzarote, with a small population and a sensitive environment, might feel overwhelmed by a certain type of tourist. Those who make no effort to learn even a little of the language, those who won't eat the local food, those who treat the locals as their servants, those who strip to the waist and swagger down the street with cans of lager in their hands singing football songs.

I'm sure British tourists who engage with the local culture and respect it will continue to be welcome in Lanzarote.

And that is it. And there is no need to be posh, or rich either.

We are forever saying 'please do not tar all Brits with the same brush- those types are a tiny minority. And staff reply 'but they are the only ones we see'. And it is very sad. And why should we not try to explain, and apologise for the hurt they cause?

We don't do posh holidays, we don't generally do 'resort' holidays. And of course, I will get some of the above even more annyoyed, but here goes. I speak 4 European languages fluently, and perhaps that means that staff tend to speak more to me about how they feel. Perhaps?

First time we went to Tenerife, we did stay in a resort, and chose it because the ad said it had an English restaurant and a typical Spanish one. When we got there, we were told they had had to close the local Spanish one as so few of the guests would eat there. We moved to a parent resort further North- and that was great.

We went on a ski trip to Bulgaria. Fantastic staff, and great food- a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains, 3 puds- and we heard it many times during the week- why do we have to eat that foreign stuff. It was Women's day when we were there- and the women at the Hotel invited everyone to a party, with food, drinks, music and dance. We were the only ones who attended, with two girls on the trip. They kept asking- why British so not nice? And we and the girls were apologising.

We went on a school ski trip to Châtel in France. The Chef at the Hotel was morrocan, and one evening he prepared his best couscous. It was amazing. The coach drivers shouted at him and said exactly what I reported above 'bring us some proper food, we ain't eating that foreing muck- bl**dy arabs'.

When we go on hols, we don't do posh and expensive. We eat local, small family places with great local produce and great recipes.

At a resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, the pool attendant was a very educated young man from Cairo, a doctor. My friend and I, both from UK, witnessed the way people talked to him. Reminded us of Apartheid South AFrica 'oy, boy- bring us a beer and chips, chop chop'. And yes, we both apologised and talked to him a lotl Some of the stories he told us were truly shocking.