Spanish people are super chilled, they don't care about anything, they said. You can do in this country whatever you want to, they said. Everything is so easy there, they said. Do not worry about anything, they said.
Well, I got fooled.
I'm a bit into hitchhiking, did it couple of times and with such a description about the country I was pretty sure about not having any problems with hitchhiking. Couldn't be more wrong..
We're waking up early and meet at the edge of the city of Granada (south of Spain, Andalucía. Come one those people are even more chilled than anyone else, right?).
We leave the city bus at the last stop, have a walk (about 15-20minutes) and there we are, we've reached the highway, absolutely ready to catch the very first lift up. (Ok, we are not ready for 100% - we still have to write down the name of our destination).
So we cross the street, planning to write down Sevilla on a cartoon we grabbed yesterday evening (it's pizza pack, it still has the nice smell of cheese, mmm).
But, we don't even have to do this. 'hey, I see you wanna go somewhere, I think I can help!' a guy is screaming. Wow, I think, it took us seconds to catch the first car - it's gonna be extremely easy to hitchhike here. (Again, couldn't be more wrong).
He's from Algeria, speaks Spanish in such a good level, we're able to communicate. He gives us a lift for about 30km. During that time he mentions every detail about his work. 'You know, during summer I work as a bodyguard in Ibiza. It's crazy there, I can't understand people coming to have fun at the island. It's looks more like hell!' So as a reply, we say that we're going to Ibiza in 3 weeks (12€ flight, he'll yeah) and ask if we should worry. 'Oh, absolutely not! It's after season, you're gonna love it! It's the calmest island that exist!' He replies. (He was absolutely right and I felt in love with Ibiza, but maybe I'll better write about it some other time).
He leaves us at a petrol station, where we are stuck for the next 2 hours. We're still in the mountains area, it's 7 in the morning, even though it's Spain, we're dying because of cold.
After more or less hour of waiting, suddenly a car stops. We're happy and waiting for the moment we enter the car and move from this damn petrol station. At that point we don't care where the car is going, everything's better than this. When it stops, we're there, waiting with the biggest smiles on our faces. And everything we here is 'what are you doing here? It's illegal! Stupid girls.' And they leave. Without us of course. (Chilled Spanish, huh? Don't worry about anything, huh?)
Finally there's a hope! The car has stopped and guy inside invited us inside. He's Spanish, he's a lawyer. He says he's living in Malaga but works in Granada's court. Right now he's going back home, his wife is waiting for him. Why did he decide to give up a life? 'Oh, I was doing my Erasmus in Moscow long time ago. It's popular there, you know?' (Oh, I know, you don't have to tell me..). He can give us a lift for only about 20km - but in our situation, it's really something. We are extremely grateful. He wishes us luck and leaves us right behind the mountains, it's not that cold at least!
At that moment, we've created new plan. 3-4 hours in which we planned to reach Sevilla seems not enough right now. Well, that's hitchhiking's charm. We start to catch cars again. By the time, farmers (there's nothing around but fields) are screaming at us that we better go from here, because it's not right what we are doing.
But there's nothing that could stop us, so we wave our sight with bright 'Sevilla' on it and we wait for some luck. And we are lucky. Cabriolet stops.
It's the first time in my life I'm in a such car, we're going more that 200km/h without a rooftop! (Pretty nice experience). All we know is that we're going directly to Sevilla. There's only sound of wind and we can hardly hear the music because of it, but the driver doesn't seem to care. After more or less 20-30km he closes the rooftop and asks 'have you seen that cute dog next to the road?' (Of course not! We are moving that fast I can barely see my friend because of our hair waving!) but we kindly answer that we didn't pay attention but for sure it was sweet. That's is. We're not talking for the next half an hour. When we stop at a petrol station, we're having small chat. He's half Spanish, half Turkish, he's living in Germany, Frankfurt and surprisingly, his wife is polish. They were on holiday in Granada and liked it so much that he bought a house there and right now he's driving to Faro (Portugal) to meet his wife and son there. I'm not even trying to imagine what he's doing for a living. The less you know, the better you sleep.
Anyway, we reach Sevilla in an hour. He's taking us for breakfast. (By taking us, I mean: inviting!). So there we are, eating breakfast in the center of Sevilla in a nice cafe. He's not talking much. Just says it was a pleasure for him and that he was more than happy to have a company for a while. We exchange phone numbers and we're in touch till now.
Was it hard to hitchhike in Spain? I can't really say. There's always a risk and comments surely we're not nice. All I can say is that it's not the best place to catch lift up easily and that you have to plan a lot of time. Don't forget to have patient packed!
But on the other hand, hitchhiking from Sevilla we managed to catch the bus. It was football team players's bus. They were going back from the game. They lost, but still there was a party inside the bus. I think they were more excited about us going with them than us. So when they left us in front of their club building, we took a photo together. For their Facebook fan page.
The next car we caught was 'english' (I mean, with the steering wheel on the opposite site, I mean, not the site I'm used to). And with this little story I'm gonna show you the point of hitchhiking. When you enter the car it's not you, who's in danger. The driver trusts you and you trust him. You're equal. And the sentence from the title? It's what a driver of 'english' car said to us after we asked 'so, what are you doing here?'.
If you find it helpful or simply like it, you know what to do ⬆️⬆️
Thanks &I see you soon!
Love, Lonia.
Thanks! As somebody who has travelled around Spain a lot (especially Andalusia) but never tried hitchhiking this was a really interesting read. I'm surprised more people weren't willing to pick you up, especially as you were two girls.
They really have no idea what hitchhiking is and how it works! But still, we made it :)
Thank you!
Thanks again @lonia sharing your stories, love it !
Thank you!
looks like a fun trip!
I've never hitchhiked before. I think I would be too scared!
You should totally try! As I have only experience with Europe. (Did it once if Africa), I can totally say it's good to start in Slavic (including Balkan Slavic) countries ;) it's pretty easy in Germany too (and they drive fast - which is an advantage as well).
I'm crossing my fingers for you!
Looks like a ton of fun!! Followed for more crazy stories
Thank you! I've followed you too, seems like we're gonna share interesting stories!
Absolutely :) oh ps have you ever read the book Carsick -John Waters? It's about hitchhiking across the states, it's hilarious and thought provoking, I think you might like it
Thanks! I haven't! But I will absolutely check It right after my finals :)
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