Is tipping becoming a thing of the past? I ask because last week and this week in two different towns the waitress thought that I had paid the wrong money for my meal and put the extra in front of me and both times I had to explain that it was the tip for them and they seemed surprised and very grateful.

Rosemary

Most Spaniards have never tipped except for the odd cents change. They only expect tips from guiris in tourist areas

The first one was an ordinary working town and the other was a Spanish tourist town so that might explain it but it is the first time that I have come across this there although saying that Graham has commented in the past that they always seem surprised at the amount of the tip and I can assure you that I am not that generous.

Rosemary

well many shops etc cannot be bothered with the odd couple of cents in change and give it to you in your favour.

I have tipped on the odd ocassion, in one bar that serves beer with excellent tapa at the lowest price around almost hostility - until I said "para los ninos" at which there was a grin and a gracias.

Our nearest Carrefour never give the few cents change and it is always in their favour.
But if it one cent over a full Euro they will hold their hand out until you pay

Our local shops and stalls in the indoor market always round the price down by a few centimos. In the ferreteria we normally use (a very old fashioned shop where you go to one counter to get what you need and be given the bill, and then to a separate one where the owner's wife presides over the till) they knock a couple of euros off plus the odd cents, as a rule. You don't get that in Leroy Merlin or Bauhaus!
I think there's only been one occasion where he hasn't stocked what we were looking for.

Most times if I've just called in somewhere for a coffee I don't tip, but I do in restaurants unless the food or service hasn't been good. I must say I like it better that a tip seems to be appreciated than in some countries where it is pretty much demanded, or a service charge is automatically added to the bill.

I know it probably marks me out as a foreigner, but I don't care, I still tip for good service and a cheery smile. Why not?

I've always tipped, usually around ten percent, unless the service is poor. With the current crisis I tip around 15 percent. People are openly suffering and I can live with paying the extra 15 percent to people who are poorly paid anyway.

especially as many of them are maintaining last years prices and the years before that and absorbing the IVA increases rather than lose customers for a few pennies

On top of that, the waiting staff around here are paid three Euros an hour, without a contract, slave labour, and they hope to double their ridiculous wages with tipps, which still amounts to slave labour.

If I couldn't afford to pay those tips, I would stay indoors, rather than be a skinflint.

Seriously, there's waiting staff working for as little as 3 Euros an hour ?

Well isnt it about time you started paying your staff properly ??

There are probably some who actually work for the family for no wages at all in order to maintain a roof over their heads.

Rosemary

Well that would be illegal because it is under minimum wage, which is around 4.25 euros per hour

Up here, most waitering jobs are 6 or 7 euros per hour

The ones working for €3 per hour are likely unemployed and working black. Around here, it's simply a way of life for many. A lot of restaurants have one one or two official employees, but there are six or eight people working in the evenings.