I recently voted at a poll on Expansion.com, a Spanish economy newspaper, to pick the most significant Spanish icon. The web site proposed a few dozens of icons to represent the Spanish and Spain. The sample contained too many commercial brands but the public seems to have set the record straight. The most voted Spanish icons are, sorted in decreasing order of votes (percentage and number of votes):
1. Toro Osborne 44,36%(673)
2. Botijo 43,24% (656)
3. Tricornio 32,89% (499)
4. Baraja española 31,14% (473)
5. Bota de vino 28,74% (436)
6. Bote de Colacao 27,49% (417)
7. Mortadelo y Filemón 25,84% (392)
8. Guitarra española 24,46% (371)
9. Gaseosa La Casera 23,07% (350)
10. Naranjito 21,56%(327)
Marketing a blog, such as this one, involves posts with ranking of ten top somethings or polls. l but this time I have to say I find these icons are relevant and genuinely Spanish. Except Naranjito, the mascot of the 1982 World Cup of football, and Mortadelo y Filemón, all icons are older than the fifties and older.
Which means that this poll is dominated by voters in their thirties and older, the ones who read a business newspaper. Admittedly, bar the tricornio, the list is a lovely compilation of innocuous and innocent symbols, objects and brands. A far cry from the Spanish stereotypes common among by foreigners.
My personal top ten would include the Seat 1500, the bocadillo de calamares (or rabas), the game of las chapas, the gazpacho, the jamon iberico, the rabbit and the Iberian lynx.
I wonder what the top ten Spanish icons of a teenager audience would be.