Take the cuadrilla. This is made up of a group of friends, of the same sex, that grow up together, and from their teens on, go out on the town together. It's incredible to watch how the groups go from place to place, bar to bar, in tight little circles, all turned in on themselves, avoiding the pleasure of mixing socially with people from other groups, all members of the cuadrilla on the alert for any one that might care to intrude and break the hermetic seal that binds the members together. If you're a member of the opposite sex, then be prepared for stony looks, and pleas of 'Come on, X, we're going now',to the one deemed responsible for inviting the outsider into the fold. Many of the cuadrillas still get together on a regular basis, well into their twenties and thirties, after going to university, or getting married and having kids, and then spend the following day after a night out complaining that their friends aren't the same anymore. X just has nothing in common with Y, who spent the night trying desperately hard not to get drunk, so that she wouldn't open his/her mouth and reveal how she truly felt about one or some of the others. It seems that no-one has the courage to break free of the cuadrilla, no matter how irrelevant the people in it have become to their lives.
Aside from the cuadrilla, another noticeable quirk is the self-inflicted separation of the sexes when out having a drink. Perhaps this is a manifestation of their Catholic upbringing, in a town where many private schools still separate the boys from the girls, despite the Government's claim that Spain is a secular society. Religious roots run deep here, and boys will set themselves down at one table, and the girls, who have perhaps even accompanied them to the bar, then form their own group at a nearby or attached table. Have a look at this picture for a typical view of a Pamplona bar scene, where the same ritual was played out at other tables outside this bar on Pío XII Avenue.
Take a look around when you're out and about in Pamplona. You see it?
