Average costs
On average, if you're
prepared to buy your own
picnic lunch, stay in
inexpensive
pensions
and share bathrooms, and
stick to local restaurants
and bars, you could get by
on £20-25/US$32-40 a day.
If you intend to upgrade
your accommodation, see
all the museums,
experience the Barcelona
nightlife and eat fancier
meals, then you'll need
more like £50/$80 a day.
On £75-90/$120-140 a day
and upwards you'll only be
limited by your energy
reserves - though of
course if you're planning
to stay in a top-rank
Ramblas hotel, this figure
won't even cover your
room.
Elsewhere in Catalunya,
costs, inevitably, are
affected by where you are
and when. Barcelona,
Girona and Tarragona are
invariably more expensive
than small towns, while in
July and August you can
expect room prices to be
at their highest in Sitges
and the main coastal
tourist resorts. As
always, if you're travelling
alone you'll spend
much more than you would
in a group of two or more
- sharing rooms and food
saves greatly.
Various official and
quasi-official
youth/student ID cards
soon pay for themselves in
savings. Full-time
students, for example, are
eligible for the International
Student ID Card (ISIC),
which entitles the bearer
to special air, rail and
bus fares and discounts at
museums and other
attractions. A university
photo ID might open some
doors, too.
Money and the exchange
rate
Spain is one of twelve
European Union countries
which have changed over to
a single currency, the
euro
(?). Euro notes and coins
were issued from January
1, 2002.
Euro notes are issued
in denominations of
5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200
and 500 euros, and coins
in denominations of 1, 2,
5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and
1 and 2 euros.
The exchange rate
is currently ?1.65 to £1
(?1 equals 60 pence) and
?1.74 to US$1 (?1 equals
85 cents). For the most
up-to-date exchange rates,
consult the useful
Currency Converter site: .
You can take as much
money as you want into
Spain (in any form),
although amounts over
?6000 must be declared,
and you can take up to
?36,000 out unless you can
prove that you brought
more with you in the first
place.
To cancel lost or
stolen credit cards
while in Barcelona, call
the following numbers in
Madrid:
Access/MasterCard
tel 915 192 100
American Express
tel 915 720 303
Diners Club tel
915 474 000
Visa tel 913 152
512
Travellers' cheques,
credit cards and ATMs
Although they are the
traditional way to carry
funds,
travellers'
cheques are no longer
the cheapest nor most
convenient option (bank
cards are better, see
below) - although they do
offer safety against loss
or theft. The usual fee
for buying travellers'
cheques is one or two
percent, though this fee
may be waived if you buy
the cheques through a bank
where you have an account.
It pays to get a selection
of denominations,
especially bearing in mind
the commission charged in
Spain to change them. Be
sure to keep the purchase
agreement and a record of
cheque serial numbers safe
and separate from the
cheques themselves. In the
event that cheques are
lost or stolen, the
issuing company will
expect you to report the
loss immediately to their
office; most companies
claim to replace lost or
stolen cheques within 24
hours. Obviously, buying
cheques in Euros is the
best option, since these
can be cashed without
incurring exchange service
charges. Sterling and
American dollars cheques
will be accepted in all
change establishments, but
Canadian and Australian
denominations may have
their rates pegged to the
US dollar (which means
that two
"exchanges" may
be calculated).
Credit cards are
a very handy backup source
of funds, and can be used
either in ATMs or over the
counter. Mastercard, Visa
and American Express are
accepted just about
everywhere. Remember that
all cash advances are
treated as loans, with
interest accruing daily
from the date of
withdrawal; there may be a
transaction fee on top of
this. However, you can
also make withdrawals from
ATMs using your
debit card, which is not
liable to interest
payments, and the flat
transaction fee is usually
quite small - your bank
will be able to advise on
this. Make sure you have a
personal identification
number (PIN) that's
designed to work overseas.
Changing money
Spanish
banks have
branches throughout
Barcelona and Catalunya,
in all but the smallest
towns, and most of them
should be prepared to
change travellers' cheques.
Watch out for occasionally
outrageous commissions;
?3-3.60 per transaction
isn't unusual, so plan to
change a reasonable amount
of money at a time. La
Caixa and La Caixa de
Catalunya are the two
banks you will see the
most of in Catalunya: both
change most brands of
travellers' cheques, and
give cash advances on
credit cards. Wherever you
go, you'll almost
certainly have to stand in
line at two or three
windows before getting
your cash, a twenty- to
thirty-minute process.
Normal banking hours
in Barcelona are Mon-Fri
8.30am-2pm, although most
institutions also open
Thursday 4-6.30pm or
Saturday 9am-1pm (except
from June to Sept when
banks open only Mon-Fri
8.30am-2pm). Outside the
official hours you can use
one of several exchange
offices , as well as
banks with special opening
hours, all listed in the
"Directory". If
you're in difficulties,
it's usually possible to
change cash at larger
hotels (generally bad
rates) or with travel
agents, who may initially
grumble but will
eventually give a rate
with the commission built
in - useful for small
amounts in a hurry.
Wiring money
Having money wired from
home using one of the
companies we've listed is
never convenient or cheap,
and should be considered a
last resort. It's also
possible to have money
wired directly from a bank
in your home country to a
bank in Barcelona,
although this is somewhat
less reliable because it
involves two separate
institutions. If you go
this route, your home bank
will need the address of
the branch bank where you
want to pick up the money
and the address of the
head office, which will
act as the clearing house;
money wired this way
normally takes two working
days to arrive, and costs
around £25/$40 per
transaction.
Visa Travel Money
This is a disposable debit
card prepaid with
dedicated travel funds
which you can access from
over 457,000 Visa ATMs in
120 countries with a PIN
that you select yourself.
When your funds are
depleted, you simply throw
the card away. Since you
can buy up to nine cards
to access the same funds -
useful for
couples/families
travelling together - it's
recommended that you buy
at least one extra as a
back-up in case your first
is lost or stolen. There
is a 24-hour Visa global
customer assistance
services centre which you
can call on 900 991 124.
In the UK, many Thomas
Cook outlets sell the
card.
