You will read in brochures that in Spain you are expected to leave a tip when served drinks, shown to your seat by a cinema usherette etc and anyone who serves you anything. yet over the years I have noticed that the Spanish don't appear to tip anyone. however that said I still tip for good and pleasant service on the same level that I would at home in the Uk. However most Hotels are now buffet service so you serve yourself the dining room staff are just table clearers and do you tip them at home, I suspect not.
the spanish do tip, but probably not as much as those from the uk or usa.
in a cafe/bar for coffee it is normal to leave a small tip.normally the cents you get in change ie just round up the bill to 50 cents or €1 depending on how much the bill is. the staff are used to getting 10 or 20 cent tips for a couple of coffees.
in a spanish bar, when you get a bill at the end of the night it is normal to leave a slightly bigger tip, anywhere from 5-10% of the bill -i usually just round it up to the nearest €5.
in an "english" bar, where you pay as you go, i would tip as you do iin the uk ie if its your local you may buy the staff a drink, but in a "strange" bar i would not normally leave a tip. a lot of the "english" style bars have a bucket for tips and it is normal for them to ring a bell every time they get a tip. the more the tip, normally, the louder the bell is rung.
in a restaurant i would normally leave around 5-10%, depending on service. i dont normally pay restaurrant bills by cc as they normally demand a passport to back up the card, but if i do i would tip in cash.
for taxis,depending on the amount i give them ,again, somewhere between 5-10% depending on the bill, and the attitude of the driver ie if they make no attempt to indulge my lousy spanish they get small tip.
as most restaurants/english bars seem to price everything in multiples of 50 cents, i have got into the habit of keeping any small change (as i do in the uk) separate.
this has 2 purposes;it makes it easier to see how much loose change you have because you only have 50 cent or 1 or 2 euro coins in your pocket/purse and so speeds up any transactions -dont you just hate being behind the woman(it always seems to be women) who wants to pay the exact amount and spends ages trying to work out the value of these small coins
and the small coins can be useful for tips. in a hotel i normally just leave all these small coins for the maid. they can get a good tip that way- i do check before i leave that i have left something decent and top up if necessary.
if you go on any organised trip involving a bus, it is usual for the tour rep to remind you that there is a hat somewhere for tips for the driver. this is totally discretionary (i believe the tips are split with the tour rep) and so it is up to you. my view has always been that anything that makes a noise when dropped in the hat is enough
hope this helps.
in a cafe/bar for coffee it is normal to leave a small tip.normally the cents you get in change ie just round up the bill to 50 cents or €1 depending on how much the bill is. the staff are used to getting 10 or 20 cent tips for a couple of coffees.
in a spanish bar, when you get a bill at the end of the night it is normal to leave a slightly bigger tip, anywhere from 5-10% of the bill -i usually just round it up to the nearest €5.
in an "english" bar, where you pay as you go, i would tip as you do iin the uk ie if its your local you may buy the staff a drink, but in a "strange" bar i would not normally leave a tip. a lot of the "english" style bars have a bucket for tips and it is normal for them to ring a bell every time they get a tip. the more the tip, normally, the louder the bell is rung.
in a restaurant i would normally leave around 5-10%, depending on service. i dont normally pay restaurrant bills by cc as they normally demand a passport to back up the card, but if i do i would tip in cash.
for taxis,depending on the amount i give them ,again, somewhere between 5-10% depending on the bill, and the attitude of the driver ie if they make no attempt to indulge my lousy spanish they get small tip.
as most restaurants/english bars seem to price everything in multiples of 50 cents, i have got into the habit of keeping any small change (as i do in the uk) separate.
this has 2 purposes;it makes it easier to see how much loose change you have because you only have 50 cent or 1 or 2 euro coins in your pocket/purse and so speeds up any transactions -dont you just hate being behind the woman(it always seems to be women) who wants to pay the exact amount and spends ages trying to work out the value of these small coins
and the small coins can be useful for tips. in a hotel i normally just leave all these small coins for the maid. they can get a good tip that way- i do check before i leave that i have left something decent and top up if necessary.
if you go on any organised trip involving a bus, it is usual for the tour rep to remind you that there is a hat somewhere for tips for the driver. this is totally discretionary (i believe the tips are split with the tour rep) and so it is up to you. my view has always been that anything that makes a noise when dropped in the hat is enough
hope this helps.
Different view....
No, as a general rule I do not tip in Spain....it's not expected of me in Spanish bars.
If I buy 2 coffee's and it comes to €2.40 and I have that amount in my purse, then they get €2.40.
If I only have a 50 centimos coin, I give them €2.50 and don't wait for the 10 cent change.
If I've had a good meal/service and the bill is €38 euros, I would give them €40 and wouldn't wait for the change.
If I've had a bad meal/service, I would wait for the change, just to show my disgust and to let them know it wasn't worth the €38, ... I'd give a few scraps of brown coinage as a final insult.
The average Spaniard doesn't tip and if they do, you're talking scraps of coinage.
Your average José doesn't get paid enough to be able to afford leaving euros here, there, and everywhere in tips...
If I've stayed in a hotel and I've had the same maid for the 2 weeks, the day before I leave to come home (just to be certain that "she" receives it) I will give her a note, usually a €5, so that she can go buy herself a little something like a good lipstick, but only if she's been a good maid and cleaned my room well, and not touched any of my stuff.
Why? Because I know just how much these women earn a month and how hard they work.
I wouldn't like to be cleaning 24 rooms and making 48 low beds a day, because believe me, making low beds is sheer back-breaking work, and because the maid is cleaning places that some people wouldn't clean for all the tea in China"¦..no explanation needed.!
So, I show my appreciation to a sector of the workers that are exploited, and waiters don't fit into that category simply because they tend to be male, they have better bargaining powers with regards to their pay structure and equal pay is still a long way off in Spain.
http://gospain.about.com/od/spanishlife/qt/tippinginspain.htm
Sanji
No, as a general rule I do not tip in Spain....it's not expected of me in Spanish bars.
If I buy 2 coffee's and it comes to €2.40 and I have that amount in my purse, then they get €2.40.
If I only have a 50 centimos coin, I give them €2.50 and don't wait for the 10 cent change.
If I've had a good meal/service and the bill is €38 euros, I would give them €40 and wouldn't wait for the change.
If I've had a bad meal/service, I would wait for the change, just to show my disgust and to let them know it wasn't worth the €38, ... I'd give a few scraps of brown coinage as a final insult.
The average Spaniard doesn't tip and if they do, you're talking scraps of coinage.
Your average José doesn't get paid enough to be able to afford leaving euros here, there, and everywhere in tips...
If I've stayed in a hotel and I've had the same maid for the 2 weeks, the day before I leave to come home (just to be certain that "she" receives it) I will give her a note, usually a €5, so that she can go buy herself a little something like a good lipstick, but only if she's been a good maid and cleaned my room well, and not touched any of my stuff.
Why? Because I know just how much these women earn a month and how hard they work.
I wouldn't like to be cleaning 24 rooms and making 48 low beds a day, because believe me, making low beds is sheer back-breaking work, and because the maid is cleaning places that some people wouldn't clean for all the tea in China"¦..no explanation needed.!
So, I show my appreciation to a sector of the workers that are exploited, and waiters don't fit into that category simply because they tend to be male, they have better bargaining powers with regards to their pay structure and equal pay is still a long way off in Spain.
http://gospain.about.com/od/spanishlife/qt/tippinginspain.htm
Sanji
Post a Reply
Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.
