Conflict in the Spanish Culture

Last summer, Octaviano Ramirez traveled to Granada, Spain for a period of 10 weeks. During his trip, he was immersed in and experienced most aspects of the Spanish culture. The following is a summary of the answers from our interview together. 

When asked if he experienced any conflict between his cultural values and that of the Spanish, he said that he felt like he did not have any troubles assimilating to their way of life. His Mexican heritage and practices were very similar to the ones he experienced in Spain. Him speaking fluent Spanish also didn't hurt. I then asked him if he noticed any conflicts within the Spanish culture itself. He responded "There are many internal issues, one being the lack integration between the Gypsy population and the rest of the Spanish population. Creating a tension in their communities and schools." This stems from the beliefs that Gypsies belong to a lower social class than the rest of the population and are uneducated drifters. He also said that "Most Spaniards he met complained about their government, yet didn't do anything about it. They complained about their economic state, but refused to give up  the extravagant privileges that have been afforded to them by their government such as long periods of maternity leave, unemployment checks, and other social programs." 

His responses reaffirm the belief that when differing values, beliefs, and customs, even within a culture can be the source of conflict. The best way to learn how to navigate different cultures is experiencing them first hand. This teaches you how to deal with different cultures you may run into.