Here are some tips, if you were not born in Spain, about the main cultural & social idiosyncrasies of Andalusia (in the South) and the Basque Country (in the North) that will help you to better enjoy and understand this film.
Are all stereotypes shown in the film believable? Are they true? The answer is yes and no. Spain has evolved rapidly in the last decades into a modern European country so many of the stereotypes regarding habits and customs may no longer be accurate, but they are still part of the cultural identity of each place. Stereotypes referring to character or temperament manifest themselves within an intensity spectrum, that is, some individuals may display some characteristics markedly whereas others not at all; I would add that, all in all, stereotypes are helpful navigation tools as they simplify reality but we have to keep in mind that they can mislead us in specific situations.
In this film nothing must be taken too seriously. Stereotypes exist everywhere in the world, including for every region of Spain. There has always been many jokes about the people of all regions of Spain and hopefully this will continue to be the case.
THE PLOT: Rafa has never left his native Seville, Andalusia (Southern Spain). He meets Amaia from the Basque country who is visiting Seville with her girlfriends. Against his friends' advice Rafa follows Amaia to Euskadi which is in the North of Spain. A series of misunderstandings force Rafa to impersonate a full-blooded Basque with eight surnames (to prove to Amaia's father that he is a genuine basque), and he gets more and more entangled in that character in order to get the love of Amaia. (From Wikipedia, adapted).
CULTURAL STEREOTYPES
ANDALUSIANS are extroverted, they can express their feelings easily and can be the funniest people in the country; once they start telling stories & jokes you can't stop laughing, you may even die laughing, they are such great raconteurs and can tell the funniest jokes, their language is so flourished and in some instances poetic, in a popular way, that's a legacy from the Arabs that brought with them many stories like the 1001 nights and also beautiful love poetry; when Andalusians speak you don't understand a word because they cut the words in half; also they don't speak at you but shout at you or even scream at you, as if you were totally deaf; they don't like to work in large amounts, what they like is to spend the day at the bar eating olives and drinking cold beer; Andalusian women are feisty and can talk for hours, often all at the same time, (men can do this also but with less intensity); they all dance the Sevillanas, young and old, and sing flamenco, clapping their hands, they also play the Spanish guitar; they are very religious and are madly devoted of the Virgin Mary; they invented 'the siesta' and they live in the present, so mañana? what's that? they can be seen as uneducated and unsophisticated but in many cases this is not so; they are however, all from Seville or from Granada, regardless that Andalucia has 6 more provinces ... and finally their regional cuisine is reduced to 2 dishes: gazpacho and fried fish.
THE BASQUES have no sense of humour, they are too serious, they are all fishermen, they are primitive and insular, they do not want to mix so they are all inbred, their national sports are too rough, like themselves: stone block pulling and stock lifting, tug-of-war, wood-chopping and log sawing and they also play pelota; they do not take no for an anwser, they are the best cooks in the country, especially men, who escape from their women to go to these culinary clubs (where only men can be members) and there they cook, and they drink and they cook and drink some more, and they eat and they drink again, and they eat some more; the Basque make the best tapas (called pintxos) and the Basque cuisine is the best in the country; as mentioned before they are introverted, fairly dry, they sulk, this is because in the Basque country it is always raining, and so they get into gloomy moods; they believe they are not a region but a nation, they do not like people from other parts of the country, they want independence form Spain and they still fight for it.
EUSKERA (the Basque language)
Approximately 27% of the Basques speak Euskera. With the reinstatement of democracy in 1978 the teaching of the language in schools resumed with the aim to increase the number of speakers. Previously, Franco's regime has seriously undermined Euskera (and Catalan) so these languages suffered a lot. It was the people's determination in the Basque Country and also in Catalonia that kept the languages alive. Euskera is not your average language. In it not a bastardised form of Latin, like the other romance languages spoken in Europe. In fact in Spain, outside the Basque country, no one has a clue about the language. Some believe that Basque is one of the few surviving Pre-Indo-European languages, others, eccentrically, say it comes from outer space, extra-terrestrial beings brought it to Earth. In any case, its origin is still being studied and debated.
Finally, here are some Basque surnames: Gabikagogeaskoa, Agirregomezkorta, Barinagarementeria, Atxurraagirre, Zuazubizkar, Oianko, Gabikagogeaskoa, Agirregomezkorta, Izagirre, Barinagarementeria, Atxurraagirre, Beranoagirre, Eguzkiagirre, Iparragirre,Maneneagirre, Olatzagirre, Orkaizagirre, Zubiagirre, Zubiaga, Zabalegi, Zubizarreta, Zuazubizkar, Oianko, Beranoagirre, Eguzkiagirre, Iparragirre, Izagirre, Maneneagirre, Olatzagirre, Orkaizagirre, Zubiagirre, Zubiaga, Zabalegi.
They are long because they attach prefixes and suffixes to family & geographical names.
Here is the longest Basque surname recorded:
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