I snapped the above photo this morning as we were walking from our hotel to the train station. Note that it’s called a “cafe” and not a “bar”. But it is pretty much identical, I think. There is still plenty of liquor behind the counter.
Above is the cafe/bar where we hung out yesterday afternoon in Santander. Again, it’s called a “cafe” on the outside but note the inside. Pretty much a typical bar.
Of course we go to Spanish bars for the coffee and sometimes for a snack or even a meal. And they are open family places. You often see families with children. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a Spanish person drunk. I think it’s really frowned on to be drunk in public here. Of course, wine is served with every meal and included at no extra charge in the menus del dia.
It seemed like we saw a lot more bars in Santander that were called “cafes”. I wonder if that is a trend all over Spain?
In Argentina, what we have seen, they are almost all called cafés but always have both coffee and a selection of liquor.
That’s interesting! It seems in Europe (at least in Italy and Spain) they are called bars but are really more like US cafes with a liquor license. In the US they are called bars but are not considered to be cafes at all.
Don’t know about France, but the vibe is totally different in Germany and Austria. Cafés, or more properly konditorei, serve elegant pastries and coffee. There may be alcohol, but it isn’t a big part of the trade, except maybe for glasses of champagne.
I can’t ever remember seeing a neighborhood bar in either the Spanish sense or the American sense, except in international hotels. There are neighborhood drinking places (some with traditional Austrian/German food) , but the drink is almost exclusively beer. Fancy restaurants usually have a pretty complete bar. Ski resorts are a bit of an exception—noisy hangout bars for the young.
England has its own variation. I guess pubs are their version of the Spanish café/bar, though beer is the drink.
One constant in the Spanish bars is older men hanging around socializing. And by old men I mean guys actually younger than me.