Spain’s focus on specialization

During my time abroad, I have noticed an interesting characteristic of Spanish society. I am honestly not completely sure how to refer to it, but I suppose the word closest in meaning would be specialization. What do I mean by this?

In Spain, it is much more common to see stores that concentrate on a specific product or service, rather than larger stores such as Wal-Mart or Target. I have contemplated the benefits of this system, the most obvious being an increase in efficiency and the mobility of individuals; on the other hand, a disadvantage includes the inability to visit one place for many of your needs. Theoretically, the quality of the bread at the panadería around the corner from my apartment is higher than the quality of baked goods at Alcampo, the closest thing I’ve found to Wal-Mart in Spain. So overall, perhaps a belief in quality over quantity is valued more than it is in the United States. I’m sure that one could hypothesize many more insinuations of this particular method.

However, the reason specialization caught my interest was that it appears to extend beyond the shops and stores that line the streets. People are included in this observation, specifically in terms of students. Not only do students have to choose a career track while in school, as their American counterparts do; they are pushed to make that decision at a younger age. While we are encouraged to explore our options in college (at 18-20 years) and take a variety of courses until we find what appeals to us most, Spaniards must decide at 15 or 16 which career track serves them best. Furthermore, once their future has been defined, it is even more difficult to change their decision. This is only what I have observed, and I do not claim to know whether or not Spanish students approve of this system, but it would be interesting to find out.