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SPAIN
- COSTS, MONEY AND BANKS |
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Although still thought of as a
budget destination, hotel prices
in Spain have increased
considerably over the last ten
years, and if you're spending a
lot of your time in the cities,
you can expect to spend almost
as much as you would at home.
However, there are still few
places in Europe where you'll
get a better deal on the cost of
simple meals and drink.
On average, if you're
prepared to buy your own picnic
lunch, stay in inexpensive pensiones
and hotels, and stick to local
restaurants and bars, you could
get by on £15-20/US$20-27 a
day. If you intend to upgrade
your accommodation, experience
the city nightlife and eat
fancier meals, then you'll need
more like £40/$55 a day. On £50-60/$68-80
a day and upwards you'll be
limited only by your energy
reserves - though of course if
you're planning to stay in four-
and five-star hotels or Spain's
magnificent paradores ,
this figure often won't even
cover your room.
Room prices vary
considerably according to
season. In the summer you'll
find little below ?12 (£8/$11)
single, ?15 (£9.50/$12.50)
double, and ?15 single, ?21
double (£13.50/$18) might be a
more realistic average.
Campsites start at around ?2.40
(£1.50/$2) a night per person
(more like ?3-4.20 in some of
the major resorts), plus a
similar charge for a tent and a
car respectively.
The cost of eating can
vary wildly, but in most towns
there'll be restaurants offering
a basic three-course meal for
somewhere between ?4.50-9 (£3-5.50/$4-7.50).
As often as not, though, you'll
end up wandering from one bar to
the next sampling tapas without
getting round to a real sit-down
meal - this is certainly tastier
though rarely any cheaper.
Drink, and wine in particular,
costs ridiculously little: ?6 (£3.80/$5)
will see you through a night's
very substantial intake of the
local vintage.
Long-distance transport
, if used extensively, may prove
a major expense; although prices
compare well with the rest of
Europe, Spain is a very large
country. Madrid to Sevilla, for
example - a journey of over
500km - costs around ?18 (£10/$15.30)
by bus or train. Urban transport
almost always operates on a flat
fare of ?0.75-1.50 (50p-£1/$0.65-1.30).
All of the above, inevitably,
are affected by where you are
and when. The big cities and
tourist resorts are invariably
more expensive than remoter
areas, and certain regions tend
also to have higher prices -
notably the industrialized
north, Euskal Herria, Catalunya
and Aragón, and the Balearic
Islands. Prices are hiked up,
too, to take advantage of
special events. Despite official
controls, you'd be lucky to find
a room in Sevilla during its
April feria , or in
Pamplona for the running of the
bulls, at less than double the
usual rate. As always, if you're
travelling alone you'll end up
spending much more than you
would in a group of two or more
- sharing rooms saves greatly.
An ISIC student card is worth
having - it'll get you free or
reduced entry to many museums
and sites as well as occasional
other discounts - and an FIYTO
youth card (available to anyone
under 26) is almost as good.
One thing to look out for on
prices generally is the addition
of sales tax - IVA
(usually pronounced "iba")
- which may come as an
unexpected extra (currently
seven percent for hotels and
restaurants, sixteen percent for
other goods and services) when
you pay the bill for food or
accommodation, especially in
more expensive establishments.
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 on
January 1, 2002, with pesetas
having remained in place for
cash transactions, at a fixed
rate of 166.386 pesetas to one
euro, until they were scrapped
entirely at the end of
February, 2002. You can
exchange your pesetas in banks
until June 30 2002, after
which date they may only be
exchanged at the Banco de España
(which has branches in all
provincial capitals) for a
further limited period.
All prices in this guide
are given in euros. There has
been some rounding off or,
more precisely, up of prices
in the first few months after
the introduction of the euro.
Notes will be 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
euro.
At the time of writing the exchange
rate for the euro was
around ?1.64 to the pound
sterling (or £0.60 to one
euro) and ?1.16 to the dollar
(or $0.85 to one euro). You
can take into Spain as much
money as you want (in any
form), although amounts over
6000 must be declared, and you
may only take amounts over
6000 out if you can prove that
you brought more with you in
the first place. Not, perhaps,
a major holiday worry.
Travellers' cheques and
credit cards
A safe and easy way to carry
your funds is in travellers'
cheques , though most
Visa, Mastercard (Access) or
British automatic bank cards,
and US cards in the Cirrus or
Plus systems, can be used for withdrawing
cash from ATMs in Spain:
check with your bank to find
out about these reciprocal
arrangements - the system is
highly sophisticated and can
usually give instructions in a
variety of languages.
To cancel lost or stolen
credit cards, call the
following numbers:
American Express tel
915 720 303
Diners Club tel 915
474 000
Mastercard tel 900
971 231
Visa tel 900 974 445
Leading credit cards
are recognized, too, and are
useful for car rental, hotels
and restaurants, as well as
for cash advances at banks.
American Express and Visa,
which has an arrangement with
the Banco de Bilbao Vizcaya
Argentaria, are the most
useful; Mastercard is less
widely accepted.
Visa Travel Money (www.visa.com)
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 from
any of the 120 countries
toll-free. The number to call
from Spain is 900 99 1124. In
the UK, many Thomas Cook
outlets sell the card.
Changing money
Spanish bancos (banks)
and cajas de ahorros
(savings banks) have branches
in all but the smallest
villages, and most of them
should be prepared to change
travellers' cheques (albeit
occasionally with reluctance
for certain brands, and often
with hefty commissions). The
Banco Santander Central
Hispano (BSCH) and Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)
are two of the most efficient
and widespread; both can
change most brands of
travellers' cheques, and give
cash advances on credit cards;
commissions at the Banco
Central Hispano are generally
the lowest.
ATM cash machines ( cajeros
automaticos ) are now
widespread throughout the
country in cities, towns and
even many villages and you
only need a valid card with
PIN number to use them; this
is probably the most
convenient way to get cash
when you need it, although you
would be wise not to rely on
this method exclusively - it's
not uncommon for cards to be
swallowed up or, indeed, lost
or stolen. Moneychanging
machines now feature also
in many larger cities and
feeding in pounds or dollars
will give you instant cash.
Banking hours are
generally Mon-Fri 8.30am-2pm,
with some city branches open
Sat 8.30am-1pm (except from
June to September when all
banks close on Saturday),
although times can vary from
bank to bank. Outside these
times, it's usually possible
to change cash at larger
hotels (generally bad rates,
low commission) 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.
In tourist areas you'll
also find specialist casas
de cambio , with more
convenient hours (though rates
vary), and most branches of El
Corte Inglés, a major
department store found
throughout Spain, have
efficient exchange facilities
open throughout store hours,
offering competitive rates and
generally a much lower
commission than the banks
(though they're worse for
cash).
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 Spain, 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 and telex number of
the Madrid 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.
Youth and student discounts
Various official and
quasi-official youth/student
ID cards soon pay for
themselves in savings.
Full-time students are
eligible for the International
Student ID Card (ISIC), which
entitles the bearer to special
air, rail and bus fares and
discounts at museums, theatres
and other attractions. For
Americans there's also a
health benefit, providing up
to $3000 in emergency medical
coverage and $100 a day for 60
days in the hospital, plus a
24-hour hotline to call in the
event of a medical, legal or
financial emergency. The card
costs £6 in the UK; $22 for
Americans; Can$16 for
Canadians; AUS$16.50 for
Australians; and $NZ21 for New
Zealanders.
You have to be 26 or
younger to qualify for the International
Youth Travel Card , which
costs £7/US$22 and carries
the same benefits. All these
cards are available in the UK
from Usit Campus and STA; in
the US from Council Travel,
STA, Travel Cuts and, in
Canada, Hostelling
International; in Australia
and New Zealand from STA or
Campus Travel.
Several other travel
organizations and
accommodation groups also sell
their own cards, good for
various discounts. A
university photo ID might open
some doors, but is not as
easily recognizable as the
ISIC card, although the latter
is often not accepted as valid
proof of age, for example in
bars or clubs.
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