Tips on tipping

I've never worked out tipping in Spain. Or rather, I have. Usually though I'm with Northern Europeans, and I wouldn't want them to think I learned my economics in the austerity-strapped and vindictive 80s of the last century. So I leave more. When I've asked Spaniards, they usually say you have to be mean, stingy. Don't pick up the shrapnel, that's all. For many Spaniards it's not even a question: why would you worry about tips? The people who serve you are already paid; why would they need your donation and a couple I asked about tipping last weekend said they thought it was dying out, because of credit card payments as much as anything.

So, you get a couple of coffees and the bill comes to €3.40. You leave the 60 céntimos and you're a big tipper. If it were €3.80, then the 20 céntimos is more in the normal range. But pick up the change and nobody will bat an eyelid. They'll serve you the next time you're in. I tend to round up, but I sometimes feel a bit like Felix Unger when it's 2.10€ and I round it up to 3€. You have to be of a certain age to catch some of my references.

Restaurants are easier. You can assume it's a percentage even though it isn’t really. Unlike in some vaunted capitalist economy, Spanish servers don't need a 20% tip to survive and leaving nothing at all is not uncommon. They get modest wages, they are badly paid and often cheated by their employers—no surprise there—but they were never made dependent on tips for survival unlike their fellow servers in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Look out for servicio incluido on the bill though. There's a growing trend, particularly in posh restaurants, to add the service charge, again presumably inspired by credit card payments. Who knows if the staff ever see it? Again I have seen Spaniards question this charge unless it's very clear on the menu.

Back at the table, the percentage in Spain is anything from 5% to 10%, and there's a sort of upper limit. If four of you spend a couple of hundred euros, anything from 10€ to 20€ would do. But suggest to visiting Britons, or to an unnamed Norwegian-British couple we’d class as good friends, that they should stop at 20€, and they'd laugh in your face. Another of our pals, years ago and very drunk, handed over a 50€ note with a breezy "keep the change" for a 20€ bill and the waiter wouldn't take it. On the menú del día, the set meal, Spaniards usually wouldn’t leave a tip. They've gone to eat economically, not to boost the wages of the working proletariat. Generous Spaniards may leave 1€ per person.

I actually have least problem with taxis, but apparently taxi drivers don't expect anything. So the meter says 17.90€ and you go bonkers and leave 20€, but it would be the same for 18.2€ and maybe even 19€. It gets awkward if it's 19.50€—I’d probably make it 21€ but then that would feel a bit mean.

I have no idea what to tip in hotels. We don't use that sort of hotel.

Tradespeople usually refuse tips. I recently tried the “get yourself a beer” line with a three-man aircon fitting crew, and they were very firm in their refusal. When I used to deliver furniture years ago, no Spaniard ever offered me a monetary tip.

Then there are the tips that aren’t really tips. If you park in a free car park—and there are still plenty in Spain—there may well be someone signalling the free spaces. In return they expect some money. We have friends who rail against this habit: “It’s a free car park, why should I pay? I can find a space myself!” But I think it’s a great example of free enterprise, making a business with no capitalisation cost. They are called gorrillas because they use gorras, caps, to collect the cash. I've noticed that recently I've been handing over 2€ when for years it's been 1€. Such is inflation.