How can you put Spain on the same level as Great Britain? Damn Italians don't know how to make anything other than sauce with tomatoes and they think they know how to cook.
Yes, I guess that is part of the problem, in Spain hoteliers prefer to scam tourists with products of inferior quality compared to what we really eat than to gain fame and repercussion. I don't know if that was your case, or where you were, it varies a lot from one region to another, but I wouldn't be surprised.
I didn't see any reason to assume that the person you were replying to ate at hotels or at places the hotels recommended. I'm pretty sure it's more common for tourists to eat at local restaurants.
Yeah i was in rota for work and there were some good restaurants but on the whole there was really nothing, like, outstanding... nothing memorable, or that I'd say I'd want to eat again. Took a weekend trip to Barcelona and they had some better restaurants, but honestly I felt the same.