AN AFRICAN AMERICAN content creator has taken to TikTok to give Spain a rating as a country to visit for a person of colour, and her verdict was less than enthusiastic.
Nicole Phillip, who bills herself as a social media strategist and content creator on her website, explains in her video that ‘there are two countries I’m not in a hurry to visit again, and this is one of them’.
She’s talking about Spain, having visited Barcelona in 2013, and then Madrid in 2019.
“Neither of those times made me too pressed to go back, but I’ll tell you all about Madrid, and I’ll start with the good,” she explains.
Among these positive factors, Nicole lists the cheap leather goods at markets, architecture and museums, and “the best hot chocolate”, sharing a picture of her and a friend in Madrid’s famed churros cafe, San Gines.
She also says Madrid is a great place for people who like dance and music, and points out it is close to Segovia and ‘its aqueducts’.
“But honestly, for me the best part about Madrid and Spain in general is that you can leave and go to North Africa for much cheaper,” she says. “During my trip to Madrid I flew to Marrakech for two or three days and I only paid $63 [€57].”
“What was it like for me as a Black person in Madrid? I will say if I wasn’t already prepared for pretty much anything when I travel, it could have been really bad,” she continues.
“Me and an Asian man sitting at a table next to me were both ignored in the same restaurant and people avoided sitting next to me on the metro,” she claims.
“And while I was told that Spain is really open to people from Latin America, especially those who wanna immigrate into the country, I’ve also seen stories from people from Latin America talking about how horribly they’re treated when they go to Spain,” she adds.
“So because I’m not really a fan of museums and architecture, and that’s the main thing to really do in Madrid, and because Spain overall has a terrible history of people of colour, and still hasn’t learned from that, for me Spain gets a 5.5 out of 10,” she concludes.
Do you agree with Nicole? Leave us a comment on the story to add your experiences in Spain or on X (formerly Twitter) @olivepress.
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