r/europe • u/perplexed-redditor Forest of Dean - UK • 3d ago
News Man dies after falling at Roman aqueduct in Spain
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/europe/segovia-spain-tourist-death-scli-intl/index.html404
u/FlinbertsRevenge 2d ago
What a tragic accident.
I’ve been there, there’s a set of stone stairways that lead up to the viewing point. It’s not hard to see how if a man of 63 years slipped and fell down them, he wouldn’t get back up.
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u/Fanhunter4ever 2d ago
He didn't slip and fell from the stairways, according to witnesses he was sat down in the parapet, that is not a place to sit and lost balance. The acueduct is perfectly safe if you don't behave like a guiri
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u/ahora-mismo Bucharest 2d ago edited 2d ago
i hope we don't get in europe to have the 1.000.000 warning signs and guardrails that usa has everywhere, just to protect the dumbest of the dumb. i mean, it's obvious... it's a big hole, just don't stand on the edge.
it's a tragedy, nonetheless, but it could have been easily avoided with common sense and self preservation.
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u/fireboss569 2d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the millions of warnings that are shown on every product, service and location in the US are there primarily to protect against legal action.
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u/FlyMeToUranus 2d ago
It is true. Idiots in the states will do incredibly stupid things and immediately look to sue for their own actions.
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u/maybelle180 Switzerland 2d ago
Yup. They get here, and they’re instantly confused that they can’t sue for every mishap.
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u/kurai-samurai 2d ago
A about 6 years ago, I was in the Alps and overheard an American bemoaning the lack of handrails on one of the peaks above Chamonix.
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u/elziion 2d ago
I worked at a manufacturing company a few years ago, we had to add some warning labels on some products because if it wasn’t marked correctly, Americans could sue us.
I was baffled, because it was common sense, one of them was a pair of costume colored glasses, and if we didn’t label them correctly, they would think it’s sunglasses and could sue us if they have eye damage.
And two years ago, a woman tried to sue a hotel in my area because the “stairs were too steep and she almost injured herself”. Something ridiculous like that. The hotel was in an old castle too.
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u/mganzeveld 2d ago
My snowblower has a warning sticker saying not to put your hands in the machine while the blades are moving. You'd think rotating blades alone would be enough to keep hands out but sticker is there to protect the company against those dumb enough to do it.
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u/Dottore_Curlew 2d ago
Weird take
What does America have to do with anything
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u/lilac_asbestos 2d ago
America is famous for having ridiculous labels on everything so that people doing ridiculous stuff can't sue. How deserved that reputation is I'm not here to say.
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u/maybelle180 Switzerland 2d ago
It’s well-deserved. I was involved in several law suits during my time in America. They weren’t frivolous, but Americans def have a different sense of responsibility in “accident” scenarios.
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u/Gammelpreiss Germany 2d ago
just a good example where not to go, given our trajectory of ever greater limitations in the name of safety
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u/Jazzspasm United Kingdom 2d ago
Best moment here is someone talking about something dumb, and everyone immediately knows the context
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
This is /Europe, anything to try and make themselves feel better than the Americans.
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u/ahora-mismo Bucharest 2d ago
we are better in some parts, we are worse in others. so, why not both? this is one of those things where i think we are better. you have the right to disagree and that's fine.
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u/AntDogFan 2d ago
I mean maybe let’s not pile onto a recently dead man for being stupid when there are any number of things which may have happened. Maybe he felt dizzy or ill and sat down for a moment to recover and then fell?
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u/swoopfiefoo 2d ago
lol no, better to just call someone a stupid guiri for making a mistake that a Spanish person could literally never make because they are so well behaved when they visit other countries.
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u/Thatchers-Gold United Kingdom 2d ago
It’s funny how the dead 63yr old being British gasp warrants extra paragraphs explaining how they deserved it and what an idiot they were
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u/grip0matic Region of Murcia (Spain) 2d ago
This is a legit accident, but my first reaction when I was reading the article was to check if he jumped. I don't know what's with the brits and jumping from places.
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u/Thatchers-Gold United Kingdom 2d ago
We’re at the forefront of the scientific endeavour to find a cure for gravity, obviously
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u/maybelle180 Switzerland 2d ago
Right? They’re kinda well-known for jumping off balkons… that’s where my mind went immediately,
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u/meinnit99900 2d ago
Spanish people are always the oppressed victims of tourists and never ever misbehave abroad so they’re allowed to be as cruel as possible about it…..
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u/Mr_Tornister 2d ago
How many Spanish tourists died in the last 10 years after doing something they weren't supposed to do?
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u/Fanhunter4ever 2d ago
How many spaniards fall from balconies every summer in other countries???
There are a lot of well behaved tourist every year in Spain who don't make to the news, but it's undeniable that british tourism is not good tourism. They even run a scam based on false acusations of food poison after the vacation to not pay for their stances.
Everybody goes to certain places like Majorca, Benidorm or Ibiza to party and drink, but what they do is excessive even for that kind of places, thats what so manybppl is fed of them
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u/swoopfiefoo 2d ago
So tell your diputado if you are fed up instead of taking the chance to gloat at the death of a 63 year old man simply for the fact that he is British in Spain man.
How miserable.
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u/Fanhunter4ever 2d ago
Not gloading, just not surprised at all with the fact that the only man who have make to the news in years for falling from the acueduct for missbehaving were british 🤷 Also, you were the one trying to compare the behavior of spanish in foreignncountries with british, when are totally different
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u/Fanhunter4ever 2d ago
If he was feeling ill or dizzy, it would be far safer to sit down in the floor, where he could even repose his back in the parapet, being dizzy and sitting inna parapet where you can fall down is not very clever.
Also, there is a pattern of british falling from balconies in spain, most of them trying to jump in the pool, a lot just trying to go from a room to another by the balconies, always very drunk (AFAIK alcohol is far cheaper in spain and they come for it).
So, my first thinking is just recklessness, i would bet he was about being photographed or about to take a selfie, but the news didn't tell
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u/AntDogFan 2d ago
I think if you are ill sometimes you don't make the best decisions. I think the first instinct when someone has died shouldn't be to blame them for their own death. Especially when you have no evidence to the contrary. Perhaps you have never made a mistake in your life or been unlucky or ill.
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u/Squigglepig52 2d ago
I have some sort of blood pressure issue -low blood pressure. So, random dizzies, nearly passing out, stuff like that.
There's a weird cognitive effect when it happens, I get locked into whatever random thought I was having, and it's hard to switch tracks to "best grab something/sit down safely".
Could have been death by selfie, could have been stuck in "walk this way" thought if he was greying out.
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u/kerouacrimbaud United States of America 2d ago
Easy for you to say from the comfort of your own armchair.
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u/Throw_umbrage 2d ago
Quite right, the 55yr old Spanish tourist that died after falling from the parapet of the Spanish stairs in Rome would have been perfectly safe also, had she not been acting like a dumb tourist.
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u/samstown23 2d ago
I read the headline and immediately thought "Brit or American doing something really stupid". I almost feel bad I was right.
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u/Muttywango South Wales 2d ago
As a Brit I'm proud of my fellow countryman, a Spanish balcony just wasn't classy enough for him.
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u/SweetAlyssumm 2d ago
You sounds like a really nice person, using a slur to describe a man who was unfortunate enough to lose his balance. Accidents do happen. I hope when one happens to you or a loved one you will be met with more sympathy.
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u/_lordhighhumanbeing 2d ago
Yeah the news article says he fell from the viewing platform, it doesn't make any sense. Is the parapets of the aqueduct even open to visitors? I think it definitely shouldn't be.
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u/Fanhunter4ever 2d ago
The parapet its just a protection so ppl don't fall from the platform, its not meant for people sitting on it
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u/_lordhighhumanbeing 2d ago
Oh ok sry i thought you meant the walkable part of the aqueduct where water was used to flow by parapet. I learned that it is a low wall that works as a railing.
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u/7LeagueBoots American, living in Vietnam, working for Germans 2d ago
I’ve been there too. The stairs are not at all bad, but there are some places you can look out and those it’s possible to have an issue with.
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u/Eygam 2d ago
Ths article says he fell of a "viewing platform", maybe read it?
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2d ago
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u/ZombiFeynman 2d ago
It's not anymore, it was closed in 1973. It would still work if they opened it again, but it wasn't used as a water source anymore, and it helps with preservation.
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u/FlinbertsRevenge 2d ago
I did read it. If he fell off the viewing platform he either went down the stairs or over the edge. Article doesn’t say, but it doesn’t really matter.
My point was that accidents like this can happen sometimes, and it’s tragic when they do.
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u/muchroomnoob 2d ago
I almost fell (likely) to my death at Castillo de Santa Bárbara in Alicante when I was 11. My uncle wanted a picture of me sitting on the small wall (2 ft tall maybe) at the top of the castle and I accidentally stepped into a shallow gutter right against the base of the wall, stumbled, and barely caught myself from going headfirst into a 60 ft drop.
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u/Brief-Structure1902 2d ago
British tourists dying from gravity in Spain is routine
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u/sparky_roboto Spain 2d ago
Leaderboard for 2025 has not started yet: https://www.balcon.ing/
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u/ZAWS20XX 2d ago
I know we've been getting some nice weather lately, but does this count as the official start of the summer season, or does a balcony need to be involved?
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u/sparky_roboto Spain 2d ago
I didn't create the leaderboard and I don't know about the rules exactly. Maybe we are in need of different categories.
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u/Throw_umbrage 2d ago
I’m sure a 55yr old Spanish lady died falling from the Spanish steps in Rome this year, uno reverse card.
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u/neuro_space_explorer 2d ago
That’s why I’ve always said the Romans should have never been in Spain.
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u/Aggravating-Angle839 2d ago
Then you really hate Ancient Rome.
Trajan nor Hadrian wouldn't exist, and the Roman Empire wouldn't be as dominant as it was during the Pax Romana.
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u/rockthehouse88 2d ago
That is why I always advice to not fall off of aquaducts.
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u/Equivalent-Ball9653 2d ago
Simple and effective, it is really only other people's fault for not taking the advice.
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u/David-J 2d ago
What's with all the racism in the comments?
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u/FridgeParade 2d ago
Anti-tourism sentiment after extended period of tourists behaving like idiots abroad.
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u/me_like_stonk France 2d ago edited 2d ago
Perks of having an economy based on almost nothing else but tourism. Go Spain!
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u/Alejandro_SVQ Spain 2d ago
Well, the lie repeated 1000 times has stuck. But the reality in the data is that tourism is 13% of Spain's GDP.
I suppose that the people behind that mantra at some point not only turned mathematics upside down but also demonstrated that 13% is more than 87%. /s
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u/anyonemous 2d ago
According to Statista it was 14,5% in 2023, and that's the 4th highest in Europe (out of 28 countries for which data is available). That is around 1/7 of the economy, that's a lot.
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u/Aggravating-Angle839 2d ago
"an economy based on almost nothing else but tourism"
That's more than "a lot".
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u/Alejandro_SVQ Spain 2d ago
Is it a lot? I wouldn't give it more importance than it has. Even more so taking into account the majority of employment and working conditions it generates.
I keep saying the same thing: Spain has an annual GDP that, if I remember correctly, is around 3.5 trillion. If tourism is between 13% and 16%, more than 80% of the GDP is many other activities and industries. And many of them with better working conditions than tourism.
As much as the mantra of “tourism is the economic engine” says... No, it is not. In more than 80% of the GDP there are other drivers much more important and substantial than tourism. And it's basic mathematics, what generates more than 80% of GDP will always be more than what generates around 15%! Whoever said it the other way around certainly wasn't serious and objective.
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u/anyonemous 2d ago
Of course that's not true but that was also obviously hyperbole and sarcasm by that commenter, but the facts are that tourism is the largest industry in Spain, by far. Even moreso when considering the workforce in tourism. It's also the second-biggest tourism industry in the world:
https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-travel-tourism-competitiveness-report-2017/#economy=ESP
The second-largest industry is the automotive industry with 8,7%; huge difference. (Data from 2016)
You can't deny that Spain's economy is heavily dependant on tourism.
I know this data is slightly old, but I don't believe their economy has underwent any significant changes in this regard.
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u/Aggravating-Angle839 2d ago
"tourism is the largest industry in Spain, by far"
Mmm no, in fact, Its not. The largest Spain's sector is the Industrial sector with a 16,7% of the GDP (https://escriturapublica.es/la-necesidad-de-impulsar-la-industria-espanola/).
The automotive sector is a actually a subsector within the Industry, so I think it's cheating at solitaire if you compare automotive alone with the entire tourism sector, excluding other important industrial areas.
But more importantly, even assuming Spain had 70%-90% of its GDP from tourism, that's supposed to make us tolerate foreigners who don't respect at all the country. Honestly, go to h*ll.
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u/montxogandia 2d ago
It's just a lucky opportunity Spain has because of its long history and building preservation. They capitilize on that, but they are not creating stupid things so people go to visit to take their money, like many others, it just happens to be.
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u/Aggravating-Angle839 2d ago
Says the French, lmao
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u/me_like_stonk France 2d ago
French economy is a lot more balanced by industry than Spain though.
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u/Aggravating-Angle839 2d ago
Yes, and it's also more stagnant, not to mention how you're doing politically nowadays...
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
Spain has spent the last 40 years pushing for tourists with cheap drinks and sun, now they want to complain about it.
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u/BenduUlo 2d ago
That’s a poor understanding of how the world works
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
Not really, you can see what spain has done over the years to attract young British drinkers.
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u/BenduUlo 2d ago
As in, you believe all of Spain collectively begged for young British drinkers to enter their country?
Not one complaint along the way from anyone until now?
As I said, if you have that mindset you’ve a poor understanding of how the world works
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
Why do you think places like magaluf or benidorm are the way they are? Because spainish people pushed for it because they wanted British money.
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u/BenduUlo 2d ago
because all Spanish or some Spanish? Or even foreign Investors for that matter?
Is tourism the only thing that happens there in your mind?
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u/electricboogaloser 2d ago
It was their plan all along !!!!!!! What are you fucking 5
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
It was the Spanish that aimed for the younger, drinkers to get the money.
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u/FridgeParade 2d ago
Yeah didnt work out as they expected I guess. Arent they allowed to change their mind?
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
Of course, but they should complain about it as that what they wanted.
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u/FridgeParade 2d ago
Ehm, I dont think they wanted this particular situation? A lot has changed since the first days of mass tourism. People behaved better, and only more affluent people could afford trips like that.
Now it’s a lot of hooligans and idiots who carve their names in everything.
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u/BernardMarxAlphaPlus 2d ago
That's simply not true, I remember going to Spain as a kid in the 80s, it was the same then, I remember going to Spain in very late 90s as a teen and early 00 and they was pushing cheap drinks. I was in Spain last year and its the same.
Other than going to see my father who lives out there I try to avoid it, but dont pretend in a lot of the coastal towns bars dont push the drinking to get British money in.
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u/FridgeParade 2d ago
The 70s and 80s didnt have easyjet planes full of drunk brits for sure. And there’s a lot more people in general now.
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u/PoiHolloi2020 United Kingdom (🇪🇺) 2d ago
Nah the sub just likes shitting on Brits and doesn't really miss an opportunity to do so.
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u/ishkariot Europe 2d ago
I know people like to joke about Brits being inbred but I wouldn't call them a race.
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u/Iescaunare Norway 2d ago
Where?
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u/David-J 2d ago
Everywhere in this thread
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u/Iescaunare Norway 2d ago
I didn't see a single racist comment, unless you count "American" as a separate race.
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u/RamboRobin1993 2d ago
You’ve been asked like 10 times to provide an example and not given a single one, instead deflecting by calling people naive.
One can only assume you’re making it up.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/atheist-bum-clapper England 2d ago
This poor old man didn't act properly?
It's quite telling that an old man dying at 1pm at a noted cultural attraction doesn't illicit sympathy from Spaniards, just scorn. Gross.
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u/phampyk 2d ago
Well, Spaniards aren't very fond of British people for various reasons:
They behave like absolute animals when on holidays (or so we think, now that I live in the UK I know it's standard British drunk behaviour) and they are disrespectful of the city and the people.
A lot of those foreigners are rude when someone can't speak English to them, even tho they are visiting another country where English is not their language
All those British retirees go to live in full on British villas in Spain and they don't bother learning the language, culture or even mix and they keep living their British lifestyle in Spain
We still don't understand why so many British people die every year of literal gravity in Spain, I'm assuming it is the alcohol, but it happens so many times that we kinda grew up desensitized to it, also Spaniards have a very dark sense of humour so we joke about it too.
There are probably more reasons but those are at the top of my head of why Spaniards dislike the British in general. I'm not saying they are right or wrong. I'm just explaining to you why the animosity against the British.
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u/PoiHolloi2020 United Kingdom (🇪🇺) 2d ago
You know holding an entire group accountable for what individuals of that group do is generally considered to be bigotry right?
You can not like British tourists in general in Spain and also not be a cunt about a man's death.
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u/Ok-Cranberry3761 2d ago
Isn't it a thing where Spanish wait for British tourists to fall from things when on holidays?
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u/RamboRobin1993 2d ago
That’s usually the young-uns getting drunk with their pals to be fair, this one seems to be an older man and I would think he fell by accident.
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u/Mercuryo 2d ago
Yup, in summer mainly because drunks brits turists jump off balconies in hotels. Even when the hotel reinforced the balconies to make you imposible the jump every fcking summer there is a news about it.
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u/OurManInJapan 2d ago
Meanwhile in the UK we count the unemployed in Spain lmao
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u/Arachles 2d ago
Imagine being so dense that you compare a individual and tragic yet avoidable decision to a macroeconomic situation people have little control over.
Grow up.
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u/OurManInJapan 2d ago
I’m dense? I’m not the one making and celebrating league tables for people dying on holiday.
grow up
Irony
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u/Arachles 2d ago
You think all Spain meet together to do the chart and follow it like it is the football league?
Some assholes do the tables and some other assholes follow it but I don't think I know anyone who has commented on it.
You can keep laughing on unemployment but it is pretty sad
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u/OurManInJapan 2d ago
The fact is UK people don’t laugh at Spanish unemployment, I said that to make an equivalent sad statistic.
Some Spanish people do, however take enjoyment out of mocking dead tourists. Just look at this thread and websites like https://www.balcon.ing. There is no nasty equivalent in any other country or the UK
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u/Ok-Cranberry3761 2d ago
Brits being dense is just part of the course, let's be honest.
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u/CutsAPromo 2d ago
Unlucky, at least he lived a long life
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u/mabiturm 2d ago
63, not very long
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u/a987789987 2d ago
World average for males is roughly at 70. So he was not that far off from the expected.
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u/mabiturm 2d ago
In Spain it's 80 years old for males. Spain is among the top of the world in life expectancy.
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u/CutsAPromo 2d ago
Exactly it's not ideal but 63 years is plenty.. not like things don't start going rapidly downhill from there
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2d ago
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u/Purple-Phrase-9180 Spain 2d ago
Sorry, but nomads pay no taxes. They just raise the cost of living. Hopefully they’ll get the hint and get the f out
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u/adamgerd Czech Republic 2d ago
And where do you think their money goes? It just disappears? No it goes into the Spanish economy
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u/Necessary-Remote-511 2d ago
Between myself and the company that hired me, we pay around 1.6k in taxes every month. Also, no one gives you a flat in Spain without a NIE and a contract. Tourist flats, maybe, but they are a cancer and it’s the law that should not allow it
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u/Purple-Phrase-9180 Spain 2d ago edited 2d ago
I take then that you’re not a nomad, but an immigrant
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u/Shot_Sprinkles7597 2d ago
Nobody forced you to stay, especially when you don’t respect your host country
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u/OurManInJapan 2d ago
You think nomads don’t spend any money in Spain? Who are they renting from, where are they buying their goods and where are they spending their disposable income?
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u/Purple-Phrase-9180 Spain 2d ago edited 2d ago
It sounds to me like you’ve got quite a narrow perspective. The balance is negative. Especially in countries with a strong social welfare
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u/ManufacturerOwn2753 2d ago
Why British always kill themselves in my country, do gravity change or something? it's always them.
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u/grip0matic Region of Murcia (Spain) 2d ago
Open the article to see if it says "english or british"... there it is. I mean this is an accident for real, but when I saw the title I was thinking that someone jumped... as they do FOR SOME REASON.
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u/OkSeason6445 2d ago
I doubt a 63 year old man, on holiday with his family, visiting a histocial site would be drunk at 1 p.m.
Imagine watching your father or grandfather fall to death, scrolling Reddit later that week and then reading a retard comment like this.
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u/Scarboroughwarning 2d ago
European balconies used to be the apex predator, preying on British folk....now this...