Bad manners on the Canaries are not just a tourist problem

Von Kay Uplegger

Complaining about a failure to observe basic rules of behaviour has now become something of a national pastime. Bad behaviour is not merely a habit of tourists.

Yes, it annoys me too when people with absolutely no sense of their own appearance subject others to the sight of their bare upper bodies in public spaces. Or when they make phone calls in restaurants, preferably with the speakerphone on. Or when they carelessly throw their rubbish onto the street or the pavement. Or, or, or. The list could go on and on.

Even locals are losing their sense of consideration and respect

But attributing these annoying behaviours solely to tourism is perhaps not the right approach and certainly doesn’t go far enough. Mustn’t we admit that (apart from the bare chests) we experience similar things here in our northern climes too?

It is not just tourists, but certainly some locals too, who have forgotten the rules of mutual respect and consideration that are still in force today. Or, far worse still: who never learnt them in the first place.

Perhaps we should focus on that rather than constantly criticising one another.