Throughout the world the Americans have the unfortunate stereotype of being the noisiest and most obnoxious of nationalities. This is predominantly a stereotype because the Americans can't hold a candle to the Spaniards or Brits....

While on vacation here in Benidorm, just an hour North of Alicante, Spain, I've been able to observe the local Spanish vacationers and the "imported" vacationers, in particular their voiciferous abilities. The mixture of vacationers in this resort region are mainly the Spaniards, the Brits, the Dutch, and a light sprinkling of other nationalities, including Germans, Italians, French and Russians (I've only seen one American and that was in the mirror).

Now back to the noise factor. Both the Brits and the Spaniards are particularly "chatty" in public; however, they seem to do this "chatting" at long distances, literally yelling at one another across the streets, stores, cafes, and on public transportation. It wouldn't be so bad if they were in pairs yelling at one another, but they seem to gather in large groups no matter where they are.

Imagine a group of around 10-12 Brits (complete families) boarding a public bus and intentionally seating themselves in all corners of the vehicle. Add a couple more groups of Brits and Spaniards, who also do the same, and then the bus takes off. Then the chatting begins, half the time this is started by one of the British parents "telling" one of the kids to behave, drawing attention from throughout the bus. Then the spat between family members begin of who started whatever it was, building volume and other voices as it continues.

At the same time, the Spaniards (usually the older generation) begin "chatting" about the latest news, attempting to overtake the British amplitude. They are pretty successful at this and other Spaniards join into the conversation from different angles in the bus. Now we have two languages being bellowed throughout the bus and all you want to do is stand up and scream: Shut UP! It's incredibly loud as these languages are flying over your head, making you just want to duck and take cover. There was even a group of elderly Spanish men (around six) sitting in the back of the bus and singing national songs under the applause of the other Spaniards, while the Brits were trying to yell over the top of this inconvient noise.

This same thing happens in cafes and stores and on the streets as well, but this is a little larger area and not so confined in space, plus you can escape if necessary.

So far I've only noticed the Russians in large supermarkets and at the amusement park. They're usually pretty quiet regardless, even at home, but sometimes there is an outburst in a supermarket. However, this does not compare to the first two groups under investigation.

The Spaniards are also renowned for grouping together at inconvenient places to discuss anything from the weather to pet care. They can block any sidewalk, store entrance or even a road, without the slightest care that anyone wants to get by. I once saw an entire group of Spaniards with dogs congregate in the middle of the street discussing their pets. More and more joined and before you knew it there were at least 20 people standing in the middle of the street laughing and telling stories. Only one lane was available for traffic and it seemed that the "chatters" didn't even notice that they had created an obstacle.

So, even though I'm a lone "loud" American voice here in Spain, I can bravely confirm that even if there were 10 of us, we would never stand a chance against the Spaniards and Brits.