Monoglotas, todas

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer this week, but I just got back from a real city and this Third World backwater with Porteño arrogance, London prices and the median age of a Bingo parlor is on my nerves. So I was pricked with a jolt of schadenfreudian smugness when I came across this little number in the paper today (regular readers of lovehatebcn might recall that I made reference to the abysmal conocimiento of useful second languages here in España):

En plena era de la globalización, las empresas españolas consiguen a duras penas que sus trabajadores se entiendan con clientes extranjeros. El 80% de las empresas españolas exige un nivel alto de inglés a sus candidatos, pero sólo uno de cada tres se considera capaz de mantener la entrevista en inglés, un porcentaje muy por debajo de la media europea.

Of course, maybe these sweet, Spanish job-seeking souls are merely being modest. But then modesty is far and away a characteristic trait here. My guess is that the number is overstated. I'd say a quarter or so could handle the interview; and even fewer actually possess a competent working knowledge of English—let alone any other foreign tongue. But then that's just my impression from living here for five years.