A British grandmother who wrote a letter to her travel company Thomas Cook complaining there were 'too many Spanish people' on her trip to Benidorm (on the Spanish Mediterranean coast) and received a travel voucher in return, has gone viral.
Ms Freda Jackson who has been the target of an online backlash over her words, now claims those quotes were taken out of context.
The 81-year-old says her words had been 'taken out of context' and that she now feels 'betrayed' by the backlash she has received from her letter, which, predictably, went viral on social media.
Benidorm, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, is a very popular tourist hotspot for British elders while the nearby cities of Salou and Tarragona are more for the younger crowds.
Her complaints read: “The hotel was full of Spanish holidaymakers and they really got on our nerves because they were just so rude. One evening a Spanish guy nearly knocked me flying and he just walked off without even apologizing. The entertainment in the hotel was all focused and catered for the Spanish – why can’t the Spanish go somewhere else for their holidays?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm probably on my own, but I can't help but feel that poor Freda Jackson has been stitched up by the journo here. Clearly, much went wrong with her hols and Thomas Cook has admitted big mistakes. <a href="https://t.co/XxsqeHi7dE">https://t.co/XxsqeHi7dE</a></p>— Martin Barrow (@MartinBarrow) <a href="https://twitter.com/MartinBarrow/status/1029066991141892098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The Spanish newspaper Marca published her letter, which led to furious responses from Spanish locals. One comment read: “We should remind the good lady that Benidorm is in Spain.
Another stated: “If she hates Spain so much, why is she coming. It seems it would be good to learn some geography.”
Ms Jackson, having seen the online backlash, now claims she only wrote the letter because her travel agent had assured her that the hotel was next to the beach and she needs, given her advanced age, flat ground to move. When she arrived, the hotel was on a hilltop and she was stuck in the full-service hotel all week. There was also a long delay before her flight departed.
The grandmother, who hails from Manchester, wrote an angry letter to Thomas Cook who initially offered her, and her travel companion a £75 voucher as compensation. After Ms Jackson refused the company improved their bid to ($720) £566 (to be split with her friend).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">British gran Freda Jackson complained there were too many Spanish people on her holiday to Benidorm - and she isn't the only one. Read these 'too Spanish' TripAdvisor reviews ▼ <a href="https://t.co/vNzJmVkUnx">https://t.co/vNzJmVkUnx</a></p>— talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) <a href="https://twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1029377130390581248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2018</a></blockquote>
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A Thomas Cook spokesperson explained the issue: “Due to a system error Ms Jackson was not informed of a change to her flights until six days before departure. We are very sorry for the inconvenience this caused and are investigating to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“We have offered Ms Jackson and her travel companion a gesture of goodwill to try and put things right which we hope she will accept.”
Source:
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She is right, whilst in Mexico travelling our resort captain steered us away from the Spaniards. He told my wife and me, “If they piss a big fucking American like you off, you’ll just snap them in half but YOU will get arrested.”They are extremely rude, mexicans hate them but still act all servitude ass kissy.
Don't like Spanish people, don't go to Spain! Simple.