How to save money on holiday in Spain
September and October are a great time to visit Spain. The weather is still balmy in many destinations, and flights and accommodation are often considerably cheaper than in the popular summer months.
While meals and days out can soon add up, you won’t pay over the odds if you follow the example of locals and our top tips.
1. Dine out at lunchtime
Lunch tends to be the biggest meal of the day in Spain, and many restaurants do a great-value menú del día (menu of the day): a three-course fixed-price lunch menu. It usually includes soup or salad, bread, a main course with side dish, dessert, coffee and a glass of wine, beer or water. Each course often has two or three choices.
Meals are usually served from 1.30pm, which is when Spaniards break for lunch. Look for a restaurant that fills up quickly with locals at that time. If you ask for la carta, you’ll be given the normal menu, so make sure you ask for the menú del día.
2. Quench your thirst for free
All restaurants and bars are now required to offer free tap water as an alternative to bottled water. This new law was introduced in April 2022 in order to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bottles sold in Spain, but tourists also benefit. Previously, hospitality businesses could choose whether to offer tap water.
Drinking fountains are also popping up in Spanish towns and at airports, so remember to pack an empty bottle in your hand luggage that you can fill up when you’ve passed through airport security.
3. Fill up on tapas
Bars bring you a complimentary tapa with your drink in many cities and towns in Spain, such as Granada (though not in Barcelona or Seville). Depending on the region and bar, the tapas can range from a bowl of nuts or olives to a wedge of Spanish omelette, slices of chorizo or a small portion of patatas bravas. You may even get to choose your free tapa.
In some places, bars compete to offer the best tapas, and it’s common to bar-hop so you can sample a few. But remember that even in places where free tapas are typical, not every bar serves them - it’s worth asking your accommodation provider and locals where they recommend. You’ll probably find you don’t need dinner after enjoying a few. If you’re in a town where tapas aren’t free, ordering one with your drink is a great way to eat out inexpensively and try regional flavours.
4. Tip like a local
There are no set rules on tipping in Spain. If you’ve only ordered drinks, a tip is not expected but small change is appreciated. When eating out, it’s sufficient to leave a few coins in tapas bars and 5-10% for good service in upmarket or touristy establishments. In taxis, round up your fare. Porters don’t expect a tip, while housekeeping staff will appreciate €1-2 per day.
5. Avoid tourist traps
When you’re in need of refreshment, it’s always worth walking a little away from the beach, central square or that famous cathedral. Restaurant, café and bar prices go down the further you are from the tourist spots. Even if you can only trot out a couple of words of Spanish, there’s no need to only choose restaurants with an English menu. Download the Google Translate app and hover your camera over the menu - it’ll translate it in seconds.
6. Plan ahead
If you’re planning to visit any of Spain’s top tourist attractions, check if they offer online discounts, or free or reduced entry at certain times of day. Tickets for Madrid’s premier art museum, the Museo del Prado, cost €15, but you can see its collection for free from 6pm to 8pm on weekdays and 5pm to 7pm on Sundays.
Seville’s royal palace, the Alcazar, is free on Mondays, while its vast cathedral is free from 2.45pm on Thursdays - but you still have to book a ticket online. A guided tour of Granada’s mighty medieval fortress, the Alhambra, usually costs €60 - but you get 10% off if you book a slot after 2pm.
As well as offering discounts to children, students and seniors, some museums and attractions offer reduced entry to to under-30s and large or single-parent families. Be careful of third-parties masquerading as official vendors and selling tickets at an inflated price.
7. Lock in your car hire
The cost of car hire has soared in the past couple of years because many companies sold off vehicles to stay afloat during the pandemic and haven’t been able to replenish their fleet. When we compared the cost of renting a car in 2019 and 2021, prices had doubled in Spain and more than quadrupled in the Canary Islands.
That’s why we now recommend locking in your car hire, and the price, as soon as you’ve booked your holiday, especially if travelling in peak season. If you pay in advance, it’s usually £20 to £50 cheaper for a week’s rental - and stops unscrupulous providers cancelling your booking in order to charge more if rates rise.
Planning to hire a car? Read our tips on how to get cheaper car hire
8. Let the train take the strain
You may wish to forgo a car altogether because fuel prices have also hit record highs in Spain this year, despite the government subsidising petrol and diesel to the tune of 20 cents per litre. To help commuters cope with the cost-of-living crisis, travel is free on suburban and middle-distance trains on Spain’s national rail network Renfe until 31 December 2022 - and visitors can benefit as well.
You’ll need to register at renfe.com or via the Renfe app using your passport number. You must choose a destination and pay a deposit of €10 for suburban (cercanias) journeys and €20 for middle-distance (media distancia) lines. A QR code serves as your rail pass and you can use it to travel to any station in the same zone as your chosen destination. For example, if you’re staying in Madrid or Barcelona, you could use it to explore the surrounding area for free.
The deposit is refunded at the end of the year if the ticketholder has travelled to their specified station at least 16 times (four times per month). While a tourist is unlikely to do that, you can still make a significant saving even if you only do a couple of trips and forfeit the deposit. Spain’s high-speed AVE network isn’t included.
What to take advantage of Spain's free train travel? How to get a free pass and where it could take you
9. …or hop on the bus
There’s also a discount of at least 30% on bus and urban transport passes until 31 December 2022, and tourists are also eligible for cheaper fares in many cities. In Barcelona, a 10-trip T-Casual pass valid on the metro, bus and commuter trains will cost €7.95 instead of €11.35. In Malaga, a 10-journey bus pass now costs just €5.50, while a monthly bus pass in Tenerife is only €19 and five tram trips between the cities of La Laguna and Santa Cruz costs €2.50. .
10. Don’t forget your Ehic or Ghic
The European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) and Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) are free medical cards that entitle you to treatment in state hospitals in the EU at the same price as residents. Spaniards get free treatment, so you also get free treatment if you have a card.
Since Brexit, British travellers are only eligible for a Ghic, which covers you for ‘necessary healthcare’, such as treatment that can’t wait until you return to the UK. If you already have an Ehic, it’s valid until its expiry date.
You can apply for a new free card from the NHS website – watch out for copycat websites that will charge you an administration fee. It’s still essential that you get travel insurance because an Ehic or Ghic won’t cover you for repatriation, private medical treatment, your luggage going missing or being stolen, or having to cancel or cut short your holiday.
Find out how the Eurpoean health insurance card and Global health insurance cards work, with our guide to Ehic and Ghic explained.
