Lord Londonderry, in Chapter VI. of his Narrative of the Peninsular War, writes thus of the difference of character between the two nations:  “Having halted at Elvas during the night, we marched next morning soon after dawn; and, passing through a plain of considerable extent, crossed the Guadiana at Badajoz, the capital of Estremadura.  This movement introduced us at once into Spain; and the contrast, both in personal appearance and in manners, between the people of the two nations, which was instantly presented to us, I shall not readily forget.  Generally speaking, the natives of frontier districts partake almost as much of the character of one nation as of another....  It is not so on the borders of Spain and Portugal.  The peasant who cultivates his little field, or tends his flock on the right bank of the Guadiana, is, in all his habits and notions, a different being from the peasant who pursues similar occupations on its left bank; the first is a genuine Portuguese, the last is a genuine Spaniard....  They cordially detest one another; insomuch that their common wrongs and their common enmity to the French were not sufficient, even at this time, to eradicate the feeling.

“It was not, however, by the striking diversity of private character alone which subsisted between them, that we were made sensible, as soon as we had passed the Guadiana, that a new nation was before us.  The Spaniards received us with a degree of indifference to which we had not hitherto been accustomed.  They were certainly not uncivil....  Whatever we required they gave us, in return for our money; but as to enthusiasm or a desire to anticipate our wants, there was not the shadow of an appearance of anything of the kind about them.  How different all this from the poor Portuguese, who never failed to rend the air with their vivats, and were at all times full of promises and protestations, no matter how incapable they might be of fulfilling the one or authenticating the other!  The truth is that the Spaniard is a proud, independent, and grave personage; possessing many excellent qualities, but quite conscious of their existence, and not unapt to overrate them....  Yet with all this, there was much about the air and manner of the Spaniards to deserve and command our regard.  The Portuguese are a people that require rousing; they are indolent, lazy, and generally helpless.  We may value these our faithful allies, and render them useful; but it is impossible highly to respect them.  In the Spanish character, on the contrary, there is mixed up a great deal of haughtiness, a sort of manly independence of spirit, which you cannot but admire, even though aware that it will render them by many degrees less amenable to your wishes than their neighbours.”