OrlandoSeaHorse

Hi, its me again. With your help in my last thread almost everything is sorted out for the trip.
Now planning how much small cash should I take - like coins or fivers. I plan to pay with card most of payments, but sure there are moments when its not possible.
So - are there usually any lower limits for card payments?

Tips. Waiters, janitors, hairdressers are the professions that normally expect a tip (not that I plan to use a hairdresser during the trip). Any others? How much would be expected? What is the correct procedure of tipping? Like would there be a piggy bank for tips, a plate, or you just put it on the table besides the person, give it in the hand during a handshake, add to the bill like in US, put in a pocket of an inviting kind (not speaking about those to whom you leave a tip in persons undies )- what is the correct way to leave a tip? Before the service or after? I have seen all those ways of tipping, that's why I ask. Funny, but even friend who had lived in Spain for a while and other one who had graduated Uni course "Spanish culture" couldn't answer. Actually they would be interested in the answer as well, for curiosity.

Parking fees?
Beggars on the streets? Are there many with this shocking unemployment rate? Do you normally give anything or shoo them away? (In Lux its half legal to give, because its part of French organised crime). Are there guys who run up at red light and try to wash windscreen and you have to pay to get them away, guys who "volunteer" to guard your car in a parking lot, meaning if you don't pay, they will be the ones who damage the car, etc.?

Does coffee come from coffee machines or you get it normally in a bar? Water bottle machines? Actually I plan to get most of my supply in market or shop, depends what I find. Can't wait to get in a fruit market, mmmm.....

Well, anything else I have overlooked?
Thanks in advance!

Dick Dasterdly

Jeez, this is Spain for Christs-sake.

Very few if any take such trivialities seriously and simply play along as the mood takes them.

Some do, some don't, some will, some won't,..... who cares ?

Just enjoy the fresh fruit and fine coffee and maybe the odd wee dram of cheap booze and you'll find that everything else takes care of itself or is of little or no great significance in the greater order of things anyway.

Land of the three Cs,
Crisis, Corruption,..... but above all else Carefree.

OrlandoSeaHorse

Good! Carefree is perfect for me! Just living next to German border has taught me (and still learning every day) to stress about nuances that I did not notice before.

Dick Dasterdly

Ha ha, I know exactly what you mean.
I've spent a little time in Germany and quite a bit more in Sweden, very similar culture in many respects.

It was often said and I found it to be fairly true,that if you wanted to drop in on a neighbour for a cup of coffee, it was necessary to make an appointment many weeks in advance so the necessary preparations could be made for it all to run smoothly.

Whilst it's nice to see important services and facilities running smoothly and efficiently there's a tendency to take it a little too far and also a distinct lack of ability to think and react outside the box.

I find that a little spontaneity, (or maybe a lot ), once in a while does not go amiss and in that respect Spain is as far in the opposite direction to Germany as you're likely to find.

OrlandoSeaHorse

Right! The best story so far was the one where host asked the guests, if they had 3rd person liability insurance before putting glass glasses on the table. Those who didn't have got plastic glases.... My friend the insurance agent commented that the biggest number of claims were for red wine on white carpets. You would imagine that would be cars or health but no.
Sorry for off-topic - Germany instead of Spain.

Domino

I find it highly hilarious that someone would want to pay by credit card for a €1.20 cup of coffee



even more hilarious that a little backstreet Spanish bar would have a card reader

MikeJ

Actually Spain is very like most other civilised Europen countries in these respects.

jimenato

It's worth being vigilant and careful in supermarket car parks. There is sometimes someone who will take your trolley back to the trolley park for you - they expect the coin from the slot. I sometimes let them do this. But don't let them near you/hassle you while you are loading your car - distraction robberies are common.

Lynn R

The OP asked about beggars - I've travelled around quite a few Spanish cities since the crisis began and have to say that even now, with unemployment as high as it is, I've found there are surprisingly few. They tend to sit quietly on the pavement, often outside supermarkets, maybe with a handwritten sign and a plastic cup or similar for coins, rather than approaching people asking for money, so you should not need to "shoo them away". I've noticed a lot of Spanish people (especially pensioners whom you might expect to have the least money, do give them a few coins, but maybe they had things tough when they were young so have sympathy for people in that position). The exception are the gypsy flower or lucky heather sellers in major tourist spots, who can be persistent to say the least.

I have seen people "directing" cars into parking spots hoping for money in return, but as to whether your car would be damaged if you didn't oblige, I couldn't say, not being a driver myself.

OrlandoSeaHorse

Thanks, Lynn R, jimenato, MikeJ, Domino, Dick Dasterdly, great answers, that was exactly what I wanted to find out! I love you!

OrlandoSeaHorse

Reminds me how in France I dropped my coins in innocent paser's-by coffee

snikpoh

Be aware though that Spain is a 'cash society' - almost everything is done with cash.

Cheques don't really exist here any more.

Credit cards are NOT accepted by all shops and certainly NOT by most cafes.


So ... carry cash or plan to have access to a cash point machine.

OrlandoSeaHorse

OK, but hotels and petrol stations would accept a card, right? Those are the biggest payments planned.
Cheques - not my problem. Luckily I have only seen one in my 48 years.

So, need notes and coins. OK. Just imagined myself with a coin necklace and belly dancer style coin belt! Carefully hidden from sight. But clinking treacherously.

angiescarr

In the pueblos tipping is unusual at bars and small restaurants. You'll normally only leave the change from a transaction no matter how large the transaction is.'in a Restaurant tipping is mire normal. but still not high nor as much 'expected'.
And I've never felt the hostility towards smaller tips you get in America for example.

In the cities (certainly in the south) at junctions people try to sell you packs of tissues for a Euro. But they're usually really accepting if you wave them away. I noticed in Seville recently that some guys have started showing you parking spaces and expecting a tip. This seems worth it to me and is like they're working for a living rather than begging.
I can't say what things are like in Expat areas though.

billgates

This is the sort of begging that I feel more comfortable with - someone actually doing something for you to earn a few coins.
Contrast this with the person sat outside the supermarket door making you feel guilty because you have just bought a trolley full of food for the week. If only a fraction of supermarket customers gave their Euro coin from the trolley to the beggar then that would be a nice little earner for someone. They might even earn a better hourly rate than I do, and they just sit there for hours at a time.
So even though it annoys my kids, I won't give anything to someone just sat on their butt expecting a donation.