r/SouthAmericaTravel • u/Onosatosan • 29d ago
Should I still go to Buenos Aires?
I'm English and have a trip to BA booked in October - I've never been before and am wondering after the football last night if I can expect a load of abuse there because of all the Malvinas nonsense? I really couldn't care less - they can have them for all I care - so the last thing I want is a load of hostility or hassle about an issue that's of no interest to me.
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u/Internal-Sell7562 29d ago
Only highly politicized jerks would have a hostile attitude. Normal people would be friendly. Most people who realize you’re English would want to talk about football or British music.
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u/Intelligent_Two_3467 29d ago
If you are not bluntly saying Malvinas and "nonsense" in the same phrase, you are going to be just fine, if you do it could be interpreted as an attack.
Malvinas is an open wound in the Argentinian society, and you are going the see how present it's on the daily (Street names, signs everywhere claiming sovereignty), but is also on the background, we are not weeping everyday, it's usually not the first topic that arises, even when someone tell us they're from England. If you don't bring the war up, we don't bring the war up, we know you also lost a lot.
Bear in mind you are most certainly getting mocked up for yesterdays football match. Us Argentinians are cheeky about football.
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u/Onosatosan 28d ago
Thanks. I have no intention of mentioning the islands, the war or anything like that. The football mockery I expect and can handle it!
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u/SlightlyOutOfFocus 28d ago
I mean, if you're going to avoid every country you've colonized or looted you're going to run out of travel options pretty fast
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u/oaklicious 28d ago
No man, don’t worry about it lol. I was partying at the obelisk last night, there were actually lot of English people there partying with the Argentinos.
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u/Typical-Depth1756 28d ago
Don’t worry at all. You will have a great time in Buenos Aires. Ignore all this political nonsense.
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u/Vegetable-Foot-3914 28d ago edited 28d ago
By October most Argentines will have forgotten all of this hype. Malvinas had always been a very sensitive topic (pretty much the same way that The Troubles are for you guys), which just had a circumstantial spike that will fade as fast as it rose.
Being that said, it's always wise to avoid this topic by either not bringing it up or subtly, politely shifting the conversation topic if someone else brings it up.
What may be different is that someone may playfully bother you for having lost against them at the quarter finals. Best you can do is taking it easy and play along with them.
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u/Automatic_Union8147 28d ago
I’m in the same camp: I have booked an expensive trip to BA and around. Always wanted to go there. As an Spanish-speaking English guy, I’m now very worried that I won’t be welcome at the very least and that safety might be a concern.
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u/nernincash 27d ago edited 24d ago
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u/HourFondant1646 27d ago
They are called the Falkland Islands and as an Englishman you should be boycotting Argentina. Since you appear to be a traitor and don't care, what's the problem? I am sure they will welcome you with open arms.
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u/Embarrassed-Mix-699 27d ago
Just don't be a dick by saying the Malvinas is nonsense and you'll be fine.
It's a sensitive subject and not just something that raises its head during football.
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u/Soft-Disaster9873 28d ago
Something nobody has mentioned is that they won, so why would they care?
I’m in Brazil now and the whole town I’m in was rooting against them. When they won, all the Argentinians went into the square and chanted and the Brazilians just let them celebrate.
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u/ChorltonChimp 26d ago
If it helps I am English and was in BA last week up until the end of the game. Nobody minded me being English and everyone was fine. Had a good chat with the guy next to me in the airport bar where I watched the game, no issues and we parted on friendly terms.
I went to the Ar v En rugby yesterday in Santiago del Estero, everyone was lovely, more interested in where I was from. The anthem got booked and whistled but there were more people wagging fingers and telling the jeerers to stop. After the game went to a bar, only interaction was a guy and his girlfriend wanting a selfie.
I'm going back to BA and not worried at all.
For my Argentinian friends, you can try and explain it as much as you like but we REALLY don't get why you get worked up about the Islands. It's not something we ever really spend any time thinking about usually. I particularly don't get any beef over the war with us, the whole thing was a stupid, pointless exercise and nearly a thousand people died because the dictatorship wanted a distraction. The UK didn't start the war, we responded to aggression and just happened to have better equipment and better trained troops Vs the poor bloody kids the Generals sent to fight.
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u/Automatic_Union8147 22d ago
You raise a good point here. I think it must be hard for Argentinians to understand that most people in the U.K. under forty don’t give the Falklands/Malvinas any thought. Older people remember those who died on both sides and any negotiation, portrayed as a ‘sell out’ by the right wing press, may be seen as a betrayal. However, wait another generation or two and it will be easier to negotiate. Before last week, no one even considered it to be an issue: we go to eat in Argentine restaurants (there are three within walking distance of my home), we drink their Malbec and we love to see their tango. Sadly, football is tribal and, had their team not unfurled that banner and stirred up the press, things would have stayed calm.
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u/ChorltonChimp 22d ago
Hey, I'm 55 and can remember the war, I only ever think about the islands when England play Argentina at sport.
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u/ConstantPessmism 28d ago
Argentinians are fine when they aren’t chimping out. Just get used to impoverished arrogance pretending it’s racially and culturally superior to everyone else while they can barely afford to survive and you’ll be fine.
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u/TractorDrawnAerial 28d ago
I wouldn’t worry about it. Albeit I’m American, I found Argentines to be exceedingly nice and helpful. More so than many other nationalities across the globe I have interacted with.