(Please find below the sixth in a new series of Adventurous Appetites’ Bite-sized blogs, designed to provide information and opinions that may be useful for visitors to Madrid.)
Tipping has its own whole culture depending on the country you are in. From what we understand, in the US people tip a lot, in Australia people hardly ever tip…!
In Spain and Madrid tipping in NOT NECESSARY at all, but it is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED…
There are NO hard rules, and it is totally up to you, but in case it helps, as a general guide, (and ONLY if you are happy), we would advise the following!:
BARS AND RESTAURANTS
For bills under 50€ - a tip of around 7% (or a bit less) would be plenty.
For bills over 50€ - we would recommend around 5% (or a bit less).
If you are NOT happy – leave absolutely NOTHING.
If the bill has “Servicio” (a service charge) on it - DON’T leave anything. Don’t confuse this with IVA which is a 10% sales tax which goes direct to the government, not the bar.
If you are thinking it is OK but service was very slow (remembering in Spain everything is much more relaxed!!!) – Round up to the nearest Euro.
TAXIS - It is not common to tip taxis unless they are particularly helpful and carry your bags up to the hotel, in which case you might round up the fare to the nearest Euro.
HAIRDRESSER - It is quite common in Spain to tip your hairdresser a couple of Euros if you are happy.
FREE TOURS - The so-called Free Tours are NOT free and you pay your tour guide what you feel they are worth. Generally we would suggest setting 10€ per person as a minimum and add more if they were really good.
HOTELS – in smart hotels you might get a someone who carries your bags to your room in which case you might give them a couple of euros. We always like to leave a couple of euros on the bedside table for the person who gets the nasty job of cleaning and changing sheets etc, but this is totally up to you!
IN SPAIN, TIPS ARE NOT USED TO SUPPLEMENT PEOPLE’S WAGES BUT TO GIVE A LITTLE “THANK YOU” FOR GOOD SERVICE.
Credit card When you pay by card there is no place to add a tip after paying, so if you do want to include a little extra to show your appreciation, it is best to leave it in cash, but you can also ask them to add it on BEFORE they type the quantity into the machine.
Hot tip! - When paying by card ALWAYS PAY IN THE LOCAL CURRENCY (€), even if it offers you the chance to pay in your own – it will save you a small fortune on conversion and transaction fees!
Venmo
Venmo does not exist in Europe so is not a valid way of sending a tip.
Cash Everyone appreciates a tip in CASH where possible, so we would recommend always having a bit of cash on you for small value items like bottles of water, or tips.
*****
Sometimes we are asked the horrible question - “What about tapas tour guides?”
The answer is - It’s really not necessary BUT ALWAYS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The opinions expressed in Adventurous Appetites’ bite-sized blogs are the subjective opinions of the author and are designed in all good faith to be helpful to the reader. The accuracy of any information shared cannot be guaranteed and neither the writer nor Adventurous Appetites Ltd accepts any responsibility for the veracity of such information, nor for any actions taken by the reader based on said information.
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