Algarvio goes to Spain and ‘avenges’ from the Spanish speaking only in Portuguese [vídeo]

The Portuguese are recognized for their hospitality, which is also reflected in the way they communicate with those who visit the country. It is usual to adapt to the language of tourists, seeking to facilitate interaction and make the experience more welcoming. Among foreign visitors, a significant part comes from Spain. However, many of these tourists do not speak Portuguese, which often leads the Portuguese to resort to Spanish to facilitate communication. According to several reports, this practice is not so common in the opposite direction, when the Portuguese visit Spain.

Digital Content Creator Algarve decides to reverse the roles

It was in this context that the creator of digital content Algarve Possessive, born in Vila Real de Santo António, decided to reverse the papers for the second time. Last summer, Ayamonte, a Spanish city next to the border, moved to record a video where he interacted with “naked hermanos” speaking exclusively in Portuguese. The video eventually became the most viewed of your YouTube channel, exceeding 141,000 views.

Now, Spain returns to the “part 2” of this curious “revenge”, choosing this time the city of Huelva as a scenario.

In the first video, possessive said: “The Spaniards usually go to Portugal and speak Spanish. We arrive in Spain and have to speak Spanish. Now I will talk about Portuguese to them. Let’s see if they like it.” In the new recording, he maintains the same approach and explains that he is responding to followers’ requests to make a second part, this time recorded in Huelva.

In the comments, many Portuguese expressed support for the initiative. “As possible, they are here next door and do not understand. And we are obliged to understand them,” wrote one user. Another added: “Brazilians do not perceive Portuguese from Portugal, nor do they notice Portuguese. But the Portuguese perceive everything.”

There were also those who sought to justify the difficulty of the Spanish. “The explanation for them not to realize or basic things is that they just hear, 100% of the time, Spanish. Any movie, movie or television content is only in Spanish. They never hear even what the Portuguese spoken is like. This happens in many countries in Europe. Fortunately, we are a versatile, unraveling country and with a large part of the population to know how to speak English.

Get now with the video:

Why do Portuguese understand Spanish better than Spanish understand Portuguese?

Although they share Latin roots and about 90% of lexical, Portuguese and Spanish similarity are not equally understood, especially in orality.

According to the Portuguese portal, the difference begins in the unequal exhibition: in Portugal, there is frequent contact with Spanish through television, music, tourism or press, while in Spain contact with Portuguese is limited, except in border zones or Lusophone communities.

According to researcher Ian James Parsley, Spanish is easier to understand why he has few vowels and pronunciation is almost always the same as writing. European Portuguese has more vowel sounds, including nasal, and is spoken more “compact”, shortening syllables, which makes it difficult for those who are not used to.

A study referred to on the Spanish Linguist website, which specializes in linguistics themes, reveals that, in reading, Portuguese and Spanish are easily understood. In orality, the Portuguese better perceive Spanish and the mutual understanding rate between the two languages around 50%.

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