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The Spanish Business Culture Making appointments Working hours vary both across Spain and according to the type of business but most offices are generally open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. and again from perhaps 4:30 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. until about 8:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. In July and especially August, when most people take their vacations, hours may change to 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Banks and government offices open 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday to Friday [banks are usually open 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday] and may not open at all in the afternoon. Whilst the siesta remains an integral feature of the Spanish way of life, it is no longer the case that all Spain 'closes' completely for the afternoon. Since Franco's death in 1975, Spanish working hours have become 'Europeanised.' Though still far from 'nine-to-five', the Spanish business day increasingly recognizes that its former idiosyncrasies no longer match the demands and expectations of the modern commercial world. Thus, a shorter break is more typically taken between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. [more or less], bigger shops remain open throughout the day and close at 9:00 p.m. and many office-workers remain at their desks until mid-evening. More and more staff do not leave the office at all during the siesta. Nevertheless, even in Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, the working day still means arriving at the office around 9:00 a.m. For many, the day will begin leisurely at first, drinking coffee and catching up with the news or office gossip. Work does not really start until 9:30 or 10.00 a.m. but, if it includes dinner, the working day may extend beyond midnight. Lunch usually starts between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. and, depending on the circumstances, could either be a quick, casual meal at a local café or bar or last for several hours in a fine restaurant. After returning to the office, workers stay as long as necessary, typically until 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. but often much later for professionals. Business can be conducted over meals but you should be aware that Spaniards regard eating as a primarily sociable activity so, if you do want to discuss business, you should make this clear to your Spanish counterpart in advance. Breakfast meetings are not very popular and should certainly not be scheduled before 8:30 a.m. Also, because many Spaniards still go home for lunch, so you should not be alarmed if your invitation to eat at this time is declined. Because of the comparatively unusual structure of the Spanish working day, it is probably best to arrange an initial meeting for the mid-morning until or unless you know your counterpart's particular practice. Retrieved from
Holidays, vacations, and punctuality You should always make appointments well in advance and confirm them by letter, fax or e-mail just before your arrival. If a public holiday [and Spain has the highest number in Europe with at least fourteen, mostly national, but also regional and local] falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many people take a four-day weekend [known as hacer puente]. In addition, all towns and villages have important annual fiestas and/or ferias that may last several days; perhaps the best known is Las Fallas, which plunges Valencia into a massive celebration for a week in mid-March. It is, therefore, imperative that you consult regional and local calendars as well as the list of national holidays before making travel plans. Most Spaniards have 30 days of paid vacation per year and usually take their leave in August or around Easter [particularly in Semana Santa (Holy Week)]. You should also avoid scheduling appointments around Christmas. Spain is one of the least punctual countries in Europe. Although you should always be punctual yourself, you should not be surprised or alarmed if you are kept waiting for some 15-30 minutes. This is neither uncommon nor intentionally rude but you may want to bring work, a book, or some other diversion to fill the time while you wait. Perhaps the only things that occur on time in Spain are bullfights, football matches and theatrical performances. Certainly trains and buses can have an entirely flexible relationship with the official published timetable. The worst offenders, though, are the state bureaucracy and the former state industries. Procrastination and delay are endemic in sectors such as energy, utilities, telecommunications, construction, and indeed anything that requires official documentation. This survival of the spirit of mañana does not signify indolence or deliberate obstructionism but it does underline the difference between the dynamism of the modern private sector and the unreformed practices of the statist industries, which also infuriate most Spaniards who have a deep distrust of administration. When you arrive at an appointment, the most appropriate way to announce yourself is to present your business card to the receptionist, who in turn will let your Spanish contact know that you have arrived. Parties and other social gatherings rarely begin at the advertised time and it is reasonable to inquire about the time you are really expected to arrive, which will probably be 15-30 minutes after the 'official' time. Retrieved from
Guidelines for business dress Spaniards are extremely dress-conscious and will perceive your appearance as an indication of your professional achievement and relative social standing. It is important to dress con elegancia, which means top-quality, conservative clothing in relatively subdued colours. Men should wear dark woolen or linen suits and silk ties with white cotton shirts and women should wear well-cut suits [including trouser suits] or business dresses made of high-quality fabrics. Designer clothes and brand names will be noted with approval. The female business traveller should strive to dress with the utmost modesty, as Spanish women are expected to avoid drawing attention to their physical sexuality and tend to emphasise their femininity through their immaculate clothes and hair. Obviously the weather can be an important factor in determining what to wear. As the temperature approaches 40ºC in the shade at the height of summer, it becomes increasingly acceptable to wear lightweight suits and, outside an air-conditioned office, to loosen one's tie and throw one's jacket over one's shoulder. As always, it is best to follow the example of your Spanish counterpart and to remember that it is 'cool' to look smart but also that it is smart to look literally cool. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that it can be very cold in January and February in the central meseta and surrounding mountain ranges and that, even in high summer, there can be an uncomfortably marked difference in temperature between, say, the heat of Madrid and the cool air of El Escorial in the adjacent foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama to the northwest of the capital. When off-duty, you should bear in mind that shorts are not really acceptable in public, that the dress code for entering a church is both strict and strictly enforced [i.e. neither sex should display a disrespectfully excessive amount of bare flesh], and that top restaurants will expect at least 'smart casual' dress even in July-August. 'Smart casual' does not include un-ironed T-shirts, cheap jeans and trainers/sneakers. Retrieved from
Addressing others with respect As a guiding principle, first names are traditionally reserved for family, close friends and children. It is always correct to use the basic titles of courtesy - Señor [Mr], Señora [Mrs], Señorita [Miss] - followed by the surname. It is also advisable to address qualified individuals by any titles they may have, e.g., Profesor, followed by their surname; professional and/or academic titles, however, are not normally used when addressing Spanish executives. The old courtesy titles don and doña preceding a first name to show respect to an older or senior man or woman when talking to or about them are increasingly rare in modern Spain; they may still be used before full names in official documents and contracts or in combination with Sr, Sra or Srta in formal correspondence. To use them in speech today risks appearing sarcastic or mocking. Spaniards have two surnames [apellidos] - their father's first surname and their mother's first surname - and you should take care to use both unless/until it becomes clear that your colleague uses only one; the same applies to compound first names, e.g. José-María. Similarly, you should use the formal usted when addressing a counterpart in Spanish unless/until invited to use the more informal tú. Increasingly, though, you will find that younger Spaniards in particular will use first names and tú from the outset in business relations, at least with their peers, and reserve usted for superiors and for older people, whatever their position in the company [also, confusingly, for servants]. This applies especially in the South, which tends to be more informal and quicker to embrace a more familiar relationship. Retrieved from
Selecting and presenting an appropriate business gift There is a tradition in Spain of companies giving their employees a hamper or basket of food and drink at Christmas [families and friends exchange presents on the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January)]. In ordinary Spanish business culture, however, gifts are usually given only at the conclusion of successful negotiations. If you receive a gift, you should open it immediately and in front of the giver. When offering any gift, you should ensure that it is a high-quality item [perhaps a brand-name] and that it is finely wrapped; it should advertise your company name only if it is a fine pen or a tasteful desk accessory. You should not give anything too extravagant as your generosity may be perceived as a bribe. If you can travel prepared, representative local artefacts and coffee-table books about your home region will usually be appreciated as gifts. University or sports team shirts and caps can be good choices for your colleagues' children. If unprepared, a bottle of fine brandy or whisky will always be appreciated. If you are invited to a Spanish home, you should take chocolates, dessert items such as pastries, or flowers [not dahlias, chrysanthemums, white lilies or red roses, and an odd number of blooms that is not thirteen]. Retrieved from
What you should know before negotiating Visitors to Spain should realise that there are two quite distinct business cultures in Spain. On the one hand there are the bigger and newer, or reformed, industries that have received significant amounts of foreign investment and embraced modern, international management techniques. On the other, there are the traditional SMEs and family businesses that account for the majority of Spain's GDP. The leading banks, which still constitute the business elite, are situated somewhere in the middle. The former are indistinguishable from any other multinational enterprise in their emphasis on decentralised organisation, target-driven team-work, functional specialisation and a focus on quality of output. They exist, however, alongside a preponderance of enterprises in which the team is an unscientific collective operating within a social hierarchy headed by a benign autocrat. Although many aspects of the Spanish character and Spanish business culture transcend such a crude divide, what follows is primarily a guide to the latter category that continues to defy the drift towards European and global homogeneity. Business cards should ideally be printed in English on one side and in Spanish on the other; you should present your card with the Spanish side facing the recipient. Equally it is advisable to take plenty of literature about your company to distribute and it helps to bring samples of your products and/or demonstrations of your service. Personal contacts and relationships are essential for all business success in Spain. You should select your Spanish representatives with tremendous care because, once you have made your choices, it can be extremely difficult to switch allegiance to other people. Hierarchy and position play an important role in Spanish culture. For example, it would be frowned upon if you spent a great deal of time and attention on someone of lesser rank than you. It is in your best interests, therefore, to focus chiefly on those who would be considered your 'equals' and obviously to cultivate those you identify as key players in the decision-making process. In this hierarchical business culture, only the boss [popularly known as el jefe] has the authority to make decisions. Generally, subordinates are required to respect authority, follow orders, and to deal with any problems in such a way that they do not come to the attention of their superiors. For the most part Spaniards work well in teams and the boss sees himself as a team player but theirs remains a 'closed-door' approach to management. Retrieved from
More valuable tips Remember that the North American symbol for 'OK' [i.e. making a circle with the index finger and thumb] is considered vulgar in Spain. When summoning someone [e.g. a waiter], you should turn your palm down and wave your fingers or entire hand. Compared with England, where queuing is a sacrosanct ritual, and North America, where there is also respect for standing in line, Spain often requires a much greater degree of self-assertion in order to gain attention in shops, bars, government offices, etc. Spaniards derive a sense of identity from their particular region rather than the country as a whole so you should try to be sensitive to regional differences and to avoid making misinformed comments about a Spaniard's region of origin. There are seventeen autonomous regions, each with a different degree of independence from Madrid, and each has its own individual characteristics; you should respect local sensibilities and manners without recourse to stereotypes or caricatures. Spain is a deeply traditional country, and this essential conservatism is particularly apparent with regard to religion and the status of women. Although attendance at mass is declining and it is increasingly difficult to recruit candidates for the priesthood, Spain remains a highly religious country--some 94% of the total population of 40m are Roman Catholic--and many people will be offended to hear you take the Lord's name in vain. [Actually it is a good policy to refrain from swearing at all in the presence of others.] If you are visiting a Church, you must be sure to dress and behave with due respect. Women's liberation has advanced apace since the death of Franco. Whereas in the past a woman could do little without her husband's permission, there are now many more working and independent women, but sexual stereotyping is still strong [especially in the south and amongst older men throughout Spain]. Women are still expected to run the household and look after children and, whilst Spanish men can be extremely charming in female company, their approaches may be too forward for some people's tastes. Foreign [especially blonde] women continue to hold a particular fascination for the older generation but, although it is now considered rude to whistle, any attractive woman must be prepared for turned heads and lengthy stares from admiring males. The correct response is to smile and ignore such unwanted attention. By law the service charge is included in the bill in Spanish restaurants, hotels, etc. It is customary, however, to round up and to leave small change in cafes and bars. You might reward exceptional service with an additional tip of 5%. All taxis are metered and there are usually fixed fares advertised for journeys from the airport to the city centre. A gratuity of 10% will be appreciated. [Driving in Spain, by the way, can be a hazardous and nerve-racking experience for the more sedate foreign driver; the rules of the road are generally observed but the volume of traffic and pace of driving, especially in city-centres, can be disconcerting for those still struggling to come to terms with the gentle rhythms of all other aspects of Spanish life]. Public conveniences are rare but it is quite acceptable to use the facilities of a café or bar even if you are not a customer. Men should look for the door marked Caballeros and women the door marked Señoras. If you need to ask, the appropriate phrase is ¿[dónde están] los servicios, por favor? [to which the likely response is a sullen wave in the general direction of what you require]. Retrieved from |
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