Tipping in Spain: Stories from Barcelona

As soon as I landed in Barcelona and jumped into the taxi, I could not help feeling relieved. The taxista was as eloquent as any other in Spain, and we immediately dove into a conversation about Barcelona. Though this was not my first time in Spain, it was certainly my first one in Barcelona. I had painstakingly found an Airbnb just a few meters from the icon of the city, La Sagrada Familia. Our conversation was a lot about Barcelona and things to see, and as is common, El Taxista, surreptitiously divulged details about his family in the conversation. It had not been too long before COVID-19 restrictions were finally lifted, but it seemed to linger with him.

“ En estos días, sentaba como si fueran fantasmas en las calles desoladas. No había nadie, solo las ambulancias y nosotros, las taxistas.”

In fact, the last time I was in Spain was during COVID, and after that, two years later in 2023, I had recurrent dreams of going back to Spain.

The conversation immediately lifted me from India and smoothly slid me into the Barcelonian air. The travel down to the Airbnb was exhilarating, not because Barcelona is a gorgeous city with even more gorgeously dressed people, but because the conversation with the taxista flowed unlike any other conversation I had had at home lately.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Spain

In the end, the ride ended with him recommending I to go to Sagrada Familia, the tickets to which we had already bought. After reaching the Airbnb and seeing my fiancé for the first time in months, nothing seemed less than incredible.

We hurriedly got dressed and left for La Sagrada Familia, which was just a 15-minute walk from our apartment. We decided to stop in between to get something to drink. It was his first time in Spain, so I decided to offer him the recommendation of the staple yet simply delicious tinto de verano. It was as delicious as the last time I had tasted it in a Spanish bar, with olives served on the side, another habit or rather pleasure, that I picked from Spain.

After finishing the drink, we got up and he left a tip, which took out a little giggle from me. The waitress eyed him, too. So I told him:

You don’t tip in Spain like in Canada.