Editorial: Spanish London

I do not intend to  offend any of our readers or expatriates in general living here in the Balearics, but many of you will have no doubt admitted  to yourselves and friends  at one time or other  that you wish you had made more of an effort over the years to have learnt Spanish.
Well, now not being able to speak Spanish is a double edged sword.
I have recently returned from a flying visit to London and, in the 72 hours I spent in the capital, I made more Spanish friends than I have ever done here in Palma in three days. Within hours of landing we were dining in a popular fusion restaurant in Putney, our waiter -  from Barcelona with friends in Palma.
Catch any form of public transport and the background noise  is Spanish chatter, be they students, tourists or working in the capital.
The second night, my hosts wanted to take us to a really good Spanish restaurant and, very little English was spoken over dinner.
One of  my hosts is learning Spanish, so he wanted to practice his skills with the staff who were all Spanish - so I just went with the flow and it added to the experience, similar to how being able to speak Spanish does here in Majorca.
So, having spoken just as much Spanish as English in London, it was  time to check in at Gatwick to fly home and guess what?All of the check in staff and ground assistants for this English airline were Spanish...So, start learning.