This is probably the aspect of Europe we miss the most, drinking alcohol without any shame. If you have always lived in the US, as we had prior to our move, this will be difficult to understand. Part of this apprehension to drinking is how Americans are exposed to it.
In the US, in the spectrum of activities, drinking is more of a vice rather than simple consumption. Drinking has been stigmatized for so long that it has been turned into an immoral activity, something you need to do behind closed doors. As a result, young kids experience the consumption of alcohol in binges of excess. As they get older, they follow those queues and they too binge and we end up in a vicious circle of excess.
While we lived in Europe, we lived in Barcelona. We lived in the center of the city. This part of the city was close to all of the major tourists attractions; Las Ramblas, Plaza Catalunya, various Gaudi buildings, etc. We lived there for over 5 years, so our experiences were not one-offs. Outside of our building there were many bars. Bars in Europe are what coffee bars are in the US. They are places where people gather to hang out, drink and eat. Yes, you can actually find VERY good food at a “bar“.
The legal drinking age in Spain is 18, but they don’t really card you. Our Son was 14 when we moved there and he could go and buy alcohol from the market by the time he was 16. So in theory, you could say kids could start drinking “hassle-free” by 16 (legally by 18). Yet, we can count on one hand the number of times we noticed any Spaniard teenagers drunk on the street. I am not exaggerating when I say that over 5 years traveling through Europe, we probably saw 5 yo 10 cases of Europeans drunk in public.
We traveled very often through France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Greece, Albania, and of course Spain, and we probably noticed about 5 to 10 cases of drunk local kids. How can this be? How can it be that kids are not drunk on the street when they can start drinking at age 16? If you think the answer is the price of alcohol you’d be wrong. A cold glass of beer at a “bar” is between €1.50 and €2.00. And you can buy a pint-sized bottle of beer at the market for less than that. In fact, coca-colas are more expensive than beer. A coke can range between €2.00 to €2.50.
No, the reason for this lack of excess is not price, it’s the fact that drinking is a social activity. Drinking is not a vice. Drinking a beer, or a glass a wine, is just what you do. It’s not a reward you get when you “turn 21“, it’s simply part of the social fabric.
I’ll wrap this up with two anecdotes; 1) the other day there was a huge outdoor event in the city. We were walking around it and the day was beautiful . There were food trucks, activities for kids, the works. It was great. As we were walking about we noticed a fence. The entire event was open, but there was this fence in the middle. Curiosity got the best of us and we went to see what it was. It was a pen for drinking adults. We just shook our heads and walked off. 2) We lived in the city center, a very touristy-portion of the Barcelona. I said we could count on one hand the number of drunk Spaniards we noticed in 5 years. But nightly, especially during warm nights, you didn’t have enough fingers to count the number of drunk British or American tourists screaming in the street. Trust me, when you are a foreigner, you develop a keen sense of listening for other English-speakers and you learn to spot them like radar.
So next time you are with family and friends, enjoy a beer or glass of wine. And remember the point drinking is to socialize with others, not to get drunk.
