Why is the diference between france and spain so noticeble?

Sadly, the Spanish have long been known for being a particularly rude and base people.

Aristotle only mentions Iberians once in his Politics: speaking about the fact that they used to put stones around their graves to show how many enemies the defunct had killed.

Even Spanish people of genius are contrary to progress. The famous writer Miguel de Unamuno once said "Let others invent!" It's a country of lazy people who like to piggyback on what others have done, and take pride in working as little as possible and studying or reading as little as possible. All they can talk about is food.

The country appears consistently among the lowest in polls of reading, productivity, number of languages spoken...

The Spanish psychology is typically arrogant and self entitled. To give a simple but significant example, they invented an institution in which a group of guys with robes could grab you at any time with some mumbo-jumbo about the love of God, and then torture you senseless and finally burn you alive. Maybe they would even make you pay for the wood. Such madness lasted for a lot of centuries.

For some reason, the average Spanish is this close to going back to the tree, but then you have short, isolated bursts of genius like a Picasso, a García Lorca, a Luis Buñuel... Very original people, "onetimers" rather than "schools" of artists, as it is more typical in France or the anglosaxons. For this people there seems to be no middle ground.

France, on the contrary, although it's for sure in the Top 10 of arrogant countries too, has a rich culture and an appreciation for manners and thought that runs long. Take for example Montaigne's essays, written in the 1500's, which could have been written yesterday. There is a strong streak of humanism and invention in France, which the "Black Spain" hasn't got a hint of, not even today (because they don't want it...)

My experience in with Spain, was that they lived and adhered to the restrictive Catholic sexual prohibitions. In France, sex was accepted and common. Just my observation.

In Spain the people get to live life.

In France there are too many laws.

The French are snobs so they like to preserve their heritages.