Europe is the region in the world with the highest consumption of alcohol in the world. Every country in Europe has a massive problem, whether they have managed to market it as glamorous or not.
Wine has been my poison for years. I have done several 'wine-tasting' experiences over the years in Spain and France. Even when I was an avid lover of wine I thought 90% was non-sense.
At the same time, I never became a real drinker until I moved to the UK. I used to think it was impossible for a normal human being to drink a pint of beer. It would get unbearably warm before you could possibly finish it. There is a certain culture of binge drinking without food, without conversation (loud volume in pubs preventing this), without dancing, without moving from pub to pub (like for tapas; you don't stay in the same place; you drink very small beer or wine and keep moving). And also a culture of 'no children' which means, no family ambience. Pubs are places to drink, not to socialise or enjoy family time or anything else.
The pretended 'glamour' around drinking in France or the 'fiesta' in Spain involve that you must do something else apart from drinking: you drink with your food, or you drink while you dance, or while you look after kids and your grandmother...
In that sense there is a cultural difference. However, those among us who cross the line adapt to every setting
