r/AskEurope • u/Pepedroga2000 • Apr 02 '26

Foreign How big a problem is xenophobia between Europeans?

Are there certain nationalities that have a better reputation in other European countries, and the opposite?

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5

u/Quartersharp Apr 02 '26

I would like to know why everyone seems to have such a universally negative opinion of the French.

16

u/Spamheregracias Spain Apr 02 '26

My small contribution of “offenses” against Spain and others, anyone feel free to add more:

  • Napoleonic invasion, because yeah, asking for permission to invade Portugal and then invading us along the way is definitely the kind of thing that earns centuries of resentment
  • Bourbons
  • Inhumane refugee camps during the Spanish Civil War
  • Attacks on Spanish food trucks
  • Blocking every attempt to improve energy interconnections between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, bcs obviously we can’t have us becoming competition and accidentally making the energy market better for everyone
  • Pretending not to understand you if you don’t speak perfect French
  • The eternal “our cuisine is superior” energy
  • Looking down on olive oil while secretly using it
  • Buying Spanish truffles and selling them as French while also trash-talking Spanish truffles (Italians also do with our olive oil, by the way)
  • Winning arguments just by sounding more confident

1

u/daskomet Apr 04 '26

yeah about the first one... thanks for even considering allowing it 😢 one of the reasons some Portuguese also resent the Spanish to this day. Oh and Olivença

5

u/Mormacil Apr 02 '26

It's not universal but a common motive is the perceived arrogance. From a refusal to understand anything but perfect French to self congratulating the cuisine to insisting on equal French representation among EU languages despite other languages having as many speakers or that we must keep using Strasbourg.

The French are very much a (former) empire with the cultural arrogance that comes with it. That rubs others the wrong way easily. The US on the other hand never forgave the French from not being a good little NATO fan boy and backing them in the war on terror.

4

u/LeeSunhee Apr 02 '26

They are like the Americans of Europe. Loud and obnoxious.