Internship : Cultural differences between France and Spain

One of the most important changes when traveling to another country and even more so when working abroad are the cultural differences. It is important to anticipate these changes because a business in one country may not be managed in the same way in another.

France and Spain are very close geographically, but that doesn’t mean that everything is the same and, in fact, there are several cultural differences between the two countries that you should take into account when doing your internship.

Here are some cultural differences you should be aware of if you are traveling from France to Spain or vice versa.

Regarding the rhythm of life, Spain is a country where people get up later than in France and therefore usually start their day later. Meals are also not at the same time, you can have lunch at 2 pm and dinner at 10 pm, while in France you have lunch around 12 noon and dinner around 7 pm. In addition, due to the climate in summer, the siesta is very common to make working conditions more acceptable, while in France a mid-afternoon siesta is not imaginable.

In terms of power distance, both France and Spain have a strong hierarchy, i.e. the pecking order is respected. However, there are some differences, especially in the use of formal and informal language. In Spain it is not uncommon to address your superior and to address yourself.

This is not really possible, in most companies only polite language is used.

So be careful during your internship, don’t be surprised if you are tuteated if you do it in Spain and don’t forget to be polite with your superior and your colleagues in France.

France is an individualistic country while Spain is much more collectivist. It is true that in France.

If you do your internship in France, you will find a difference with respect to Spain, even if there is group work, an employee or even a superior will always put himself first than the group, the French expect a real respect for the work done, the system of “the customer is king” only works if some form of respect is shown.

While Spain is one of the most collectivist countries in Europe, during your internship, your supervisor may have to ask your opinion and make certain decisions, unlike in France, where the supervisor makes all the decisions.

Therefore, it is also important to keep this point in mind during your internship so that you are not surprised by these changes.

One last important difference is the long and short term vision, there is a big difference between France and Spain.

France has a more long term vision, i.e. the society has a very pragmatic orientation, for the French everything depends on the situation and the moment. In France the objectives are rather long term, so the decisions taken cannot have any repercussions in the present moment. The opposite is true in Spain, which has a more short-term vision. In Spain, we like to live for the moment without worrying about the future. They are looking for quick results, so decision making is not the same as in France.

To leave the professional framework, here are some other differences between France and Spain:

A rather famous point is the noise level, especially in conversations, Spaniards have stronger vocal cords, which can be shocking if you have never been to Spain and even more so have never worked in Spain, the noise level in offices is much higher than in France. However, this increase in decibels can also create a livelier atmosphere which can be favorable.

On the culinary side, France is famous for its good food and butter, which is regularly put on the plates. In Spain, you can forget about butter, the master is olive oil, so for amateurs it will be served because it is found in many dishes.

So you have to keep in mind the main differences when you go to work in these countries.

Have a good internship!