Sinjoren

The grand façade of the Stadhuis, Antwerp's city hall, has watched over this square for centuries, and it's the perfect place to ask a deceptively simple question: what does it actually mean to be from Antwerp?

The locals have a word for it: Sinjoor. To earn that title, you need to have been born in the city, with both parents also native Antwerpers. It carries real weight here, a sense of deep belonging that goes well beyond a postcode.

The origin of the word, though, is wonderfully twisted. During the Spanish occupation of the 16th century, the ruling elite expected to be addressed as "señor." A certain type of local was happy to oblige, mimicking Spanish manners and flattering their occupiers at every opportunity. Their fellow Antwerpers were not impressed. They started calling these social climbers "senores," dripping with sarcasm.

Over the generations, the mockery softened, the spelling shifted, and "sinjoor" quietly transformed from a taunt into a badge of honor. Today it describes someone with genuine roots in the city, someone who carries a particular Antwerp pride, a touch of aloofness, and an unshakeable love for this place.

So the Spanish tried to leave their mark on Antwerp, and in a way they did, just not quite how they intended.