Viewpoint: Drinking to Get Drunk? Not in Spain

February 2018

By David Grinsfelder

Special to the Palisadian Post

You’d miss it if you didn’t know where to look. Sandwiched between a peluquería (hair

salon) and a carnicería (butcher shop), the Obsoleto Rock Bar from the outside looks more like a storage closet.

Its street sign, white cursive writing with a trombone attached to the first “O,” hangs only

a few inches above my head. I duck inside to escape the howling winter wind that races

down Calle San Vicente Ferrer.

Inside, the musical theme suggested by the street sign becomes clear—banjos and guitars

adorning the walls and little coffee tables shaped like pianos. I order a pitcher of Mahou

beer and pick out a corner table with my mix of Spanish and American friends.

It’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday, quite early by Spanish standards. After 10 minutes of small talk about classes, I notice a difference between my drinking buddies.

Carlos and Andres, native Madrileños, have hardly made a dent in their harras (a Spanish

term for a beer typically half a liter when full).

My American friend, Eddie, has already downed his first drink and poured himself another.

Over the course of the next three hours we laugh and trade stories about our upbringings

and generally have a good time.

I’ve been told about the differences between drinking styles of Spanish and American

college students, but to see representatives of both contingents side by side really puts

the problem of U.S. college binge drinking in perspective. If I had to quantify how much

everyone at the table had consumed, Eddie had roughly as much to drink as Carlos,

Andres and I put together. The biggest difference between college drinking in Spain and

the United States is its purpose. From my experiences in the U.S., students often drink

simply to achieve the sensation of being drunk. Perhaps it is to lessen their inhibitions.

Perhaps it’s to de-stress after a long day or week of school. Whatever the case, a group

mentality exists that idolizes heavy drinking.

Drinking is primarily a “party” activity, and those who choose not to imbibe must have an

extraordinary sense of self-confidence to endure the barrage of questions and sideways

glances they will inevitably attract.

On the other hand, drinking by Spanish students (and Spanish life in general) is a primarily

social activity and serves an important communal function.

It’s common to find 18-year-olds having a drink at noon between classes to catch up with

an old friend. Spanish university students would be just as happy to meet and not even

consume alcohol. A bar or restaurant just gives them a physical place to do so, and a caña

(small beer) is usually the cheapest item one can order, ranging from 50 cents to one euro.

Even on the weekends, when university students flock to the nightclubs and discotecas,

there is no pressure to consume copious amount of alcohol. By the time they turn 21,

university students in Spain have already been drinking for three years. That taboo

experience that accompanies underage drinking in the United States simply does not

exist.

Binge drinking on college campuses across America is a problem. However, college

students in the United States would be well-served to take a page out of the Spanish

playbook.

(David Grinsfelder, a 2015 Palisades High School graduate, is a junior at UC Berkeley

majoring in political science. He attended Calvary Christian School, where Marti Willens first sparked his love of writing and the English language. The News asked if he would send his impressions of being

abroad and this is the second of his essays since reaching Madrid, Spain in January.)