Alexandro

Alexandro isn't actually Alexandro at all.

In fact he's Alejandro.

"But that's too difficult for most Americans to manage", he tells us.

"So I've altered the "j" to an "x" so they can just call me Alex."

With that name, you're probably guessing that Alex hails from somewhere south of the border - but you'd be wrong.

He's actually from Spain and he's studying right now at one of the best known universities on the west coast.

"Spain these days is a lot of fun", he tells us.

"Gay life there is fantastic. The Spanish government even legalised gay marriage last year - so in some ways we're even ahead of you."

Nonetheless, Alex loves the west coast - and the west coast loves him right back.

He's a well known face in his local gay bars (and it's not, so we hear, only his face that's well known there).

And when he hitches a ride into L.A. (oddly enough, he never has a problem getting cars to stop for him) he just loves checking out the city's Latino bars.

"My accent's a big talking point there", he says.

"Most American Hispanics have never talked to someone from Spain and so, when they hear my voice, they think I must come from one of the more remote parts of Peru or Uruguay or somewhere like that.

"In fact, it's amazing how little they know about the country whose language they speak."

Inspired by Alex's words, we ourselves did a little research on Spain.

By all accounts it's a thriving country these days.

Its exports amounted to nearly $200 billion last year.

It turns out that that's mainly machinery, motor cars, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines and various consumer goods.

But, as far as we're concerned, young Alexandro's our favourite kind of Spanish export.

And he's certainly one who's just way beyond price.