Eloise HorsfieldBy Eloise Horsfield
THREE men have succeeded in smashing negative stereotypes about Andalucians – at least on the internet.
Spain’s southernmost region has long been unfairly associated with laziness and backwards thinking, perhaps due to its rural lifestyle and scorching temperatures.
But in April this year, three Marbella-born men decided they were tired of it.
The team, who all work in advertising, had found that when they typed the words los andaluces son (Andalucians are…) into Google, the search engine’s autocomplete function suggested words such as ‘lazy’, ‘stupid’, ‘illiterate’ and ‘false’.
Since these adjectives are selected automatically depending on previous searches that have been carried out, Habacuc Rodriguez, 31, Fernando Munoz, 35, and Antonio Cabello, 35, decided to launch a website to help change the results.
“Our challenge is to clean up the online reputation of Andalucians,” Rodriguez told the Olive Press.
Losandalucesson.com works by encouraging visitors to click on an icon that triggers a fresh Google search saying Andalucians are, for example, ‘hardworking’, ‘incredible’, ‘creative’, ‘sporty’, ‘strong’, ‘special’, ‘original’ and ‘the best’.
These searches all go into Google’s memory bank, meaning subsequent searches will produce more positive results.
The results have been most impressive.
Within a week 30,000 people had contributed, and in a month the figure had risen to 150,000 with contributors as far away as Ghana and Australia defending Andalucians’ name.
And now, just two months after the launch, the Olive Press can confirm that the words ‘creative’ ‘happy’ and ‘original’ are now appearing on at least the Spanish version of Google.
“We have managed to change Google.es 100 per cent, but Google.com is not quite there yet,” said Rodriguez.
He admitted that their efforts are just a small step in the fight to combat the negative image the region has across the world.
“For this we would need another type of campaign which targets all those movers and shakers who spout out completely unfounded negative comments and generalisations about Andalucians,” he said.
Have your say here!
I could write several books with true stories proving how lazy they are. Encouraged by an outdated employment system that allows them to take a job for a couple of days, quit and then claim benefit for 6 months.
I wouldn’t ask an Andalucian to sell them for me. They would hide the books in the back room, under the meat slicer or under the counter. And their shop would be closed for more hours than it was open. And, of course, it would be closed for more holidays than if the shop was located in any other country in Europe.
Unemployment is so high in Andalucia because too many are lazy. They want something for nothing.
Sometimes mud sticks for a reason.
Hilarious. Perhaps the authors should work out why the region has such a negative image (their words) and sort out the root causes?
Some facts cannot be changed of course; Andalucia has massive levels of corruption, awful local government, some of Spain’s worst planning laws, and awful levels of unemployment. If you can put aside all of that, you can have a very nice life in Spain.
Vern u don’t know anything……u seem even more stupid than what is thought about andalusians….to get 6 month of unemloyent u need to work a year and a half….ppl like u are the reason for many of this stereotypes….ppl that don’t know anything and have a big mouth…where r u from? Don’t come to Andalusia, I will fix that dirty mouth for ya
Vern you speling is not good no
This is a fascinating look at how technology has the potential to change just about anything. I think it is a great initiative to change this stereotype– despite the reality, positivity is what Spain needs right now in my opinion.
vera post la wern de la noticed la pourbour no no
I shall deal with this matter after my siesta.
Are the British unattractive alcoholics with bad teeth?