El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-01
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OCCAA dD1OdQ that QlTl ana SlOTenl1neSS
mark the conduct of Spanish hotels,
and that all of the food served is SO
highly seasoned that the foreign throat
is burned in consuming It, Persons
who insist that the Spaniards were
formerly uncleanly in their housekeep-
Ing where the public was entertained
explain the present conditions by saw
ing that national pride has risen 20
the occasion and effected radical chan
ges. Spaniards say that their country
never deserved a reputation for dirt
AT any rate. the average native hotel
today is quite as clean as the average
American hotel of the same class and
cleaner than a similar hosiery in
France. Instead of being over sea-
soned. Spanish food is, generally speak
ing, unseasoned.
Injustice Done Spaniards.
Great injustice. by inference. is done
to the Spaniards by writer's of guide
books for foreigners. Spanish but
well spoken off, is a familiar phrase
descriptive of a native hotel which
is put far down in the list by the guide
book writer who highly recommends
the regular tourist resorts TO his pat
rons- Investigation will usually show
that the Spanish hotel is far better in
point of food. service and cleanliness
than those regularly catering to for
eign travellers. 1t Is always cheaper
by rs to so percent. The prices of
food are VIGOROUSLY high in Spain. Va
rious kinds of taxes, including a pro-
tective tariff and a consume" the lat
ter local tax that must be paid By
every vender of food in the vicinity
where 1t is produced, combining with
the poor agricultural development of
the country, make the necessities ex-
noadin oil r act hoo
for example, sells for a half dollar
a pound in Madrid, and Danish timed
butter, the standard of butter in Eu
rope, sells for so cents a pound All
meats and canned products are higher
than they are in America, and eggs are
as high. Vegetables alone are moderate
in price.
Conditions Better
In these circumstances hotel keepers
in more progressive countries would
raise their rates sufficiently to cause
the patron to pay the cost of high
priced commodities. Not so with the
Spanish inn keeper. He cuts his ex-
penses for the hire of employees and
continues to quote low rates to guests.
The conditions will doubtless change
when more travellers come to Spain and
when more of them learn how much
more agreeable 1t Is to stay at native
hotel than at a tourist resort, but in 1
as few of the travellers IN Spain
at the present time speak Spanish most
of them find it convenient to stop at
hostelries that maintain
or employ walters and |
clerks who speak English and French. |
This prevents the Spanish hotels of the |
modest type from securing travellers as |
guests and they depend chiefly upon I
the Spaniards who are unused to pay
Ing high prices and unable, as a rule,
to do so.
The Spanish fonda" has an atmos- !
phere all its own. The walters are
courteous and universally |
quick and attentive. Their courtesy !
French waiter, much more agreeable
than the fawning Of the Japanese and
/ delightful novelty to the American |
who Is used to the Indifferent service |
for which the waiter in his home"
hotels expects a tip out of all proper
ion to his deserts. The agreeable re-
ations exinsting between the Spanish
waiter and those he serves Is probably 1
iue in no small measure to the unique
lttitude Of the classes toward one an
'ther in Spain. There is no equivalent
n the Spanish language for the Eng
ish word "snob"
Walters Are Polite.
Coexistent with a peculiar pride Of
ace and position there exists in the
heart of the Spanish ''hidalgo" a per-
ectly friendly and cordial feeling to-
ward persons in what are called. for
the lower walks of life.
Jpon the other hand the laborer, the
Lrtisan and the waiter maintain an at
itude of cordiality toward the upper
classes" unaffected by the bitterness
no 9 81 In <r-{o -fore 4
causes the lower classes"
o be constantly conscious OF the SEN
iment Of the wealthy and socially
rominent that men are not equal The
panish waiter is, therefore. polite. but
ot servile. He accepts a gratuity !
but does not, by word or
manner suggest that 1t should be
anger II it seems to him to be made
uate.
The result is that most persons who
top at Spanish hotels tip more will
1gly than they do elsewhere. They
sually leave the establishment re-
retting the severance of a really
riendly relation with the boy who
raited upon the table. The boy" by
ne way, is often grizzled old man.
olished in manners and picturesque in
ppearance, whose sunny outlook upon
fe indicates that he Is personally con-
ant with his lot In life, although he
ay belong to the Republican party or
o to night school to study the doc
Ines of socialism and to denounce q
rafting oligarchy that rules the coun- :
y in the name of constitutional mon .
rchy.
Hotel Sitting Rooms.
It is customary in Spanish hotels to |
divide guests with sitting rooms /
'ening inc their bedrooms. Two per- |
ms stopping at a Spanish hotel Of |
bod class and paying SO or 81 day
II lodgings and three meals for both
them, may expect to have In addi-
IN to their bedchamber a nicely fur
shed sitting room provided with a /,
BILE upon which early breakfast is
rived without service charges and
it'll desk where letters may be writ s
n. Spanish beds are more like old q
shioned feather beds IN America than
~ other. Two mattresses usually top
box mattress. and upon getting into Y
I'd one sinks In deeply. o
The poverty Of the Spanish peasant C
uses him to live chiefly upon chick t
eas and other vegetables. Meat is a t
xury and rarity But the Span t
I'd who can afford to pay 81 or So a
~ TO live at hotel may have an a
Guidance of good things to eat. The t
meals ara s1fffla hroa oop- | &