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British people on home soil may be known for their love of queuing and saying sorry when there\u2019s nothing to apologise for, but Brits abroad are a different beast. <\/p>\n
Rowdy, puce and generally lacking in respect for local sensibilities, we\u2019ve worked hard to earn our bad reputation on the continent. And locals have had enough. <\/p>\n
Anti-tourism protests have ramped up across Spain<\/a> this summer. \u201cTourists<\/a> go home\u201d stickers are plastered on walls, from Malaga to Mallorca. In Barcelona<\/a>, locals have taken to spraying tourists with waterguns as they look glumly into their sangria.<\/p>\n Unless we pull our socks up, our days on the Med may be numbered. Follow this guide to Euro summer etiquette and you might spare yourself the wrath of a water gun. <\/p>\n Wear a shirt when you\u2019re not on the beach<\/p>\n Non merci! Several resort towns in France have banned off-beach shirtlessness <\/p>\n Pexels<\/p>\n The French may be in favour of beachside breast baring, but they\u2019re not so keen on town centre torsos. Several seaside towns in France, including Cassis near Marseille, have banned men from walking around shirtless in town. <\/p>\n Anyone who flouts the rules could face a \u20ac150 fine. So next time you go from the beach to the boulangerie, cover up those pectorals. Ladies, you too. <\/p>\n Learn basic restaurant vocab<\/p>\n Even if you mess up, you will endear yourself more to waiters if you try to order in the native language. You only really need to learn the words \u201ccan I have\u201d and \u201cthank you\u201d \u2013 the rest should be laid out for you on the menu. <\/p>\n This becomes tricky if they give you a separate English menu, which often has bizarre translations anyway, making you sound like even more of a grockle when you order \u201ccold tomato soup\u201d instead of gazpacho. In that case, request un men\u00fa Espa\u00f1ol por favor.<\/p>\n Respect local coffee customs<\/p>\n A cup of Lavazza espresso coffee. (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n I was at a cafe in Mallorca recently watching in awe as an English lad barked \u201cwhite chocolate latte\u201d in the face of a bamboozled barista. As she gathered her colleagues to try and decipher this strange request, he just kept repeating it. \u201cWhite chocolate latte! White chocolate latte!\u201d<\/p>\n We do all sorts of criminal things to our coffee, but they take this stuff more seriously in Europe.<\/p>\n In Italy, you should only have milky coffee at breakfast, if at all. After lunch and dinner, it\u2019s either an espresso, or a macchiato if you absolutely must. Otherwise the waiter will wrinkle his nose in horror and probably spit in your cappuccino. If you\u2019re in Spain, ask for a cortado after meals (equal parts espresso and frothy milk). <\/p>\n Italians also do not understand iced lattes. Don\u2019t provoke them. If you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019ll get a boiling hot espresso, a separate jug of milk and two ice cubes which melt instantly. The Greeks, however, love an iced coffee with frothy milk. Just make sure you call it a \u201cfreddo\u201d. <\/p>\n Stay in a place meant for tourists<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pexels-gpress-info-40037289-12987828.jpeg\")
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