Life in Culebrón

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 ...

Rubbish collection in Spain is pretty standardised. There are big rubbish bins, of various types, scattered at strategic points in cities, towns, villages and the countryside. The bins are emptied to some organised schedule - usually every night in the cities and towns - less frequently in country areas. Householders take their rubbish to the bin. Pinoso town is a little unusual in that it has a door to door collection most nights. There are big recycling bins all over the place too - the ones in the photo are our nearest in Culebrón village centre - and there are Ecoparques where you can take those hard to get rid of things like engine oil. For bigger things, old sofas and the like, you phone either the town hall, or the company that collects the rubbish on behalf of the municipality, and they, usually, cart it away for free. I'd half wondered about the subject of this blog, with it's not very Spanish content, when I changed the printer ink the other day. I took the old cartri...