Santa Cruz de Tenerife Tops List for Bad Manners
Most Spaniards highlight the affable, sincere, kind, and unique character of Canary Islanders. However, a study by Preply, an online language learning platform, offers a different perspective. Users of the platform took part in a recent survey asking which was the most polite and the rudest city in Spain, and the result is, to say the least, surprising.
How the Politeness Ranking Was Calculated
This ranking from Preply reveals that residents of Santa Cruz lead in the most discourteous behaviours, such as talking on the phone in public or not giving way while driving. The Tenerife capital heads the list of Spain’s rudest cities, according to research that interviewed over 1,500 inhabitants from 19 large urban areas in the country. The report, which measures the level of courtesy through twelve everyday behaviours, places Santa Cruz ahead of Granada and Alicante-Elche, with an overall score of 6.06 out of 10, above the national average of 5.53.
Where Santa Cruz Residents Scored Poorly
According to Preply’s analysis, people from Santa Cruz stand out for constantly talking on the phone in public, not slowing down in pedestrian zones, and making a racket in open spaces. Furthermore, the city appears among those that leave the fewest tips, a habit that also influences its final score. The research, conducted between 2 and 7 November 2022, shows that the perception of bad manners is associated with everyday gestures that affect urban coexistence.
“Being on the phone all the time, not letting other cars pass when there is traffic, or watching videos in public are behaviours that citizens recognise as the most annoying,” say Preply, who sought to analyse the cultural and social differences between the country’s main cities.
Spain’s Most and Least Polite Cities
Alongside Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Granada, with 5.95 points, and Alicante-Elche with 5.8, complete the podium of the country’s rudest cities. At the opposite extreme, Vigo is ranked as the most polite in Spain with a score of 5.17, followed by A Coruña-Oleiros-Arteixo (5.18 points) and Valencia (5.28 points). Valladolid stands out as Spain’s most generous city, as it is the most likely to leave tips, while Santa Cruz de Tenerife appears again among the stingiest, according to the data collected.
Santa Cruz’s Detailed Scorecard
These are the points Santa Cruz de Tenerife obtained in all categories:
- Being absorbed with their phone in public: 6.74
- Not letting people group together in transit: 5.30
- Not slowing down when driving near pedestrians: 6.22
- Being noisy in public: 6.87
- Not greeting strangers: 6.30
- Watching videos in public: 6.74
- Talking on speakerphone in public: 5.48
- Closed-off body language: 5.78
- Not respecting personal space: 5.70
- Being rude to service staff: 5.30
- Not giving tips: 6.52
- Jumping queues: 5.78
- Total overall score: 6.06
Locals Versus Visitors
The study also reveals that 26% of respondents believe local residents are ruder than visitors or tourists, something that holds especially true in Santa Cruz, Cádiz, Vigo, Zaragoza, and Bilbao. In contrast, in places like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Granada, or Palma de Mallorca, citizens believe outsiders are the ones with worse manners.
Beyond the Data: A Question of Culture and Civility
Beyond the Preply report, a debate arises about social customs and civility in large Spanish cities. The language teaching platform emphasises that “learning a language also involves understanding the culture and courtesy norms of the place where it is spoken,” and recalls that manners and respect are part of cultural learning just as much as vocabulary or grammar.
The data obtained “are not intended to point fingers or assign blame, but to understand how citizens perceive their social environment and what attitudes can be improved to foster more respectful coexistence,” state those responsible for the Preply study. However, luckily for everyone, the people of Santa Cruz are affable and very good, beyond what studies like this might say.
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