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Ice and a slice, tap water, toilets...what can bars and restaurants charge for?
06/11/2021
WELL-TRAVELLED people who have experienced an international range of bars and restaurants will no doubt have discovered that different countries have very disparate approaches to what they charge for, how much they charge, and what's included in individual prices. Indeed, in some parts of some countries, seasoned tourists may already know to check the cost of a drink or meal before they order.
Then there's obligatory tipping in certain parts of the world – an amount which will not necessarily appear on the bill, but you're expected to know that you should increase what you pay by X%, but which sometimes does appear on the bill as an additional cost you were not expecting, under the heading of 'service charge'.
Depending upon which nation, town or city, or even individual premises you're in, you might have found prices were different depending upon whether you have your drink at the bar or at a table, and whether or not you make use of the waiting service – and, in others, you might find there's no table service even at restaurants, so you have to carry your own drinks or plates to where you're sitting.
And in a bar or café, are you supposed to pay for each drink as you order it, or do you run up a 'tab' and settle the bill at the end?
Luckily, in Spain, it's all a lot more straightforward. At least, it should be, if everyone complies with the law – and Spanish culture is, generally, to do just that. It's a 'collectivist' society, where rules are followed and the general interest, or greater good, normally takes priority over individual wants or needs.
But what are those rules, exactly?
Consumer organisations and legal advisors have explained what cafés and restaurants can and cannot charge you for, and how to tell the difference.
Tap water
If you're in the southern mainland region of Andalucía, in the Balearic Islands, or in the northern territories of Castilla y León or Navarra, you can ask for a glass – or several, or even a jug – of tap water, and it is against the law to charge you for it.
Elsewhere in the country, bars and restaurants are not obliged to give you free tap water, meaning if they do so, it's merely out of courtesy.
Generally, doing so is good customer service, and it's unlikely they'll refuse; if they do, you can legitimately file a complaint on the grounds that water is a communal and basic commodity and that you had a specific need for it at the time, although as there is no obligation in regions other than the four stated, you probably won't get anywhere with it.
Tap water is drinkable anywhere in Spain unless otherwise stated, even though the majority of Spaniards still buy it in bottles, a habit that has stayed with them from the days when drinking from the tap was not advisable.
Bars and restaurants all over Spain can and do charge for bottled water.
Airports in Spain are required by law to retail bottle water airside, with a maximum price of €1 – although, of course, these €1 bottles will typically be only 200ml to 330ml.
Ice
In soft drinks, in bottled water, or in coffee – where it's known as a café del tiempo – ice cubes are normally free of charge. Sometimes a café del tiempo, which comes with a glass of ice on the side to pour your coffee into, may cost a few cents more than a 'standard' coffee, but it is not normal in Spain to pay extra for ice cubes.
That said, it does happen at times, especially in more expensive, trendy and modern bars – other than in Catalunya where a regional law expressly bans a surcharge for ice.
Law firm Legálitas and consumer website Consumoteca both say that if ice cubes cost extra, this must be clearly stated on the menu or on a price list displayed inside the premises.
Anything that attracts a charge must be shown on one or the other.
Bars and restaurants cannot simply fill a glass with ice without checking first and then add the extra cost to the bill, nor can they charge the additional fee just because they asked you when you ordered 'if you'd like ice with it'. Whether requested, or whether the ice cubes come as standard, the person serving you is required by law to tell you when you place the order if they come at a further cost.
Bread
Once upon a time in Spain, practically every restaurant would bring you a basket of bread, sometimes with all i oli or olive oil to dip it in, ahead of your meal, and it was just an extra thrown in without cost.
In more recent years, the bread basket would still be included in the fixed price of a set menu, such as the immensely-popular and cheap menú del día or lunchtime 'meal deal'; but when ordering à la carte, the bread became more likely to attract an additional fee.
Until recently, staff would automatically bring bread to the table, and diners would often find they had been charged for it even if they did not order it.
Bread is still a 'complimentary' feature in some restaurants, particularly small, family-run outfits.
When it's a set menu, the bread, and one glass of wine or bottle of water, must always be included in the price, unless the meal description explicitly states that all drinks are subject to a further charge.
As a general rule, bread comes as an integral part of a set menu and, even if stated, cannot be subject to an additional price - although you may be charged extra if you finish it off and ask for some more.
If a charge applies when dining à la carte, it must be stated on the menu and, where this is the case, if bread is automatically brought to your table without being specifically ordered, you can ask for it to be taken away and for the cost not to be included in the bill.
Otherwise, where the bread comes automatically but at a cost, you have the right to ask for less of it if you know your party will not manage to eat it all, and this reduction in quantity must be reflected in the price.
Toilets
Use of the lavatories is always a thorny issue in Spain – other than in shopping centres and in large branches of supermarkets, or at railway or bus stations, there are rarely any public toilets. It is not at all common to find them out on the street, and many public buildings or government offices do not have this facility available except for employees.
What can you do, then, if you're caught short?
Don't even think about 'going' behind a tree. If you're caught, and you probably will be, you'll be fined.
If the only toilet within comfortable walking distance is in a bar, unless it's very crowded and you can slip in unnoticed, or you're prepared to get shouted at very indignantly by the owners, you'll need to order something when using their loo.
Typically, a small bottle of water costs about or just under €1, and it's normally the cheapest thing you can buy.
Public toilets in stations and shopping centres practically never involve a charge in Spain – you can just waltz in and out again.
No laws exist in Spain banning non-customers from using bar toilets, nor obliging bars to let the general public use them – all regional governments leave it up to the proprietors to decide, and the majority will expect you to order something.
If it's one of your 'locals', you often eat or drink there anyway, and the owners or staff know you well, they'll probably let you use the ladies' or gents' if you're passing and hadn't planned to stop; occasionally, even if you're a stranger, if you ask nicely, they still might let you.
One thing is very clear, though: If you're a customer in a bar or restaurant, you cannot be charged for use of the toilets, according to all regions' laws. Every customer has the right to use the conveniences on the premises without extra payment.
Some bars, however, will expect you to ask the staff for the key, and at large chains, you might have to tap in a code given on your receipt to unlock the cubicle.
'Price according to market'
This is sometimes found on restaurant menus where produce is bought freshly that same day – the most common situation is for a fish dish labelled 'catch of the day' where what ends up on your plate depends upon what was at the crack-of-dawn harbour market as the local fishermen unloaded their haul upon returning home. It's hard to get fish fresher than at an early-hours harbour market, straight from the sea – which means these wares are highly sought-after among restaurateurs.
Morning fishermen markets are typically auctions, and prices paid by bidders vary according to the volume and quality of the catch, as well as the types of fish or shellfish and whether they are a rare delicacy or brought ashore by the tonne every day of the year.
But, guess what? That's illegal, say Consumoteca and Legalitás.
It's perfectly okay to vary the price according to how much was paid at auction, or what the produce in question is currently on sale for, and it's fine to describe a dish on a menu as containing 'seasonal vegetables' or 'catch of the day' without specifying exactly what they are (some diners like surprises and enjoy the intrigue and variation).
What the restaurant cannot do, though, is include an item on a menu without stating exactly how much the customer will be charged for it.
Law service Asistencia Legal says: “The actual price must always appear on the menu. If the cost varies according to what was charged for the wholesale produce, then the menu needs to be updated as often as the bar or restaurant changes the end price.”
In the case of the 'catch of the day', this means if a restaurant pays more or less depending upon season and availability, they have to change their menu daily to reflect this so the customer always knows what he or she will be spending before ordering.
Value-added tax, use of knives and forks, booking charges...
Perhaps you've ordered a meal in a restaurant whilst on holiday and, when the bill came, found it was 15% or 20% or 25% higher than you'd calculated from the prices on the menu. And when you asked why, or analysed the ticket, found that value-added tax (VAT, or IVA) had been charged on top.
You won't have been in Spain when that happened to you – if you were, the bar or restaurant owners were breaking the law. All prices stated on menus or on displayed drinks and meals lists must come with the IVA, or VAT, already included.
It's not good enough to give the 'net' prices and then state at the bottom of the page, 'plus IVA at X%'. Customers are not expected to have to read small print or do mental arithmetic before deciding what to eat or drink. And that's final. No exceptions.
Charging extra for a knife and fork sounds surreal, but some restaurants, when a diner orders a dish and shares it with his or her companion because they cannot manage a whole one each, might include a surcharge for a second set of cutlery.
It is not clear whether this is legal, although in all cases, if the surcharge is not stated explicitly, it is against the law.
An additional fee for individual diners for a set of cutlery to use with their own, individual dish is, in fact, illegal, and displaying such a fee prominently on a menu does not make it any less illegal.
Even if you order a dish that you would typically eat with your fingers, but want a knife and fork for – such as a plate of prawns, or perhaps a cake or baguette that you want to cut up rather than ram into your mouth whole – you still cannot be charged for the cutlery you expressly request.
An extra charge to reserve a table is more of a grey area, but is rare, given that, especially post-Covid and particularly in tourist-heavy or densely-populated parts of Spain, it is difficult to just walk into a restaurant and guarantee there'll be a table free in any case.
As a general rule, restaurants do not add on a fee for booking, and are morally obliged not to; in Catalunya and Andalucía, they are legally obliged not to. In fact, in the latter, prominently-displayed notices are often in place reminding customers that it is against the law for them to be charged extra for booking or for cutlery, or for variations in market prices of produce where these are different from the amount stated on the menu.
In touristy areas out of season, and at off-peak times – such as a weekday night – it may be perfectly possible to walk into a local restaurant off the street and ask for a table, and get one. But you should always pop the question and wait to be seated; it is considered bad manners in Spain to stroll into a restaurant and sit where you please without asking first, even if the premises are practically empty and even though you will probably be invited to choose your own when you do.
This is not the case with bars, cafés, fast-food chains, or most hotels, though; in these, you just enter and sit down.
'Service charge'
Tips are not compulsory in Spain, and you should not find an extra cost added to your bill for 'service charge' – even though you may have been to countries where the tip was included in the ticket or where you would have been treated almost like a thief for not giving a set percentage on top of the stated price as a gratuity.
You can leave a tip if you want, although it is not the 'done thing' just for drinks in bars, and in restaurants you would typically only leave the change, if it's small-denomination coins, or just pop a euro or two in the saucer.
No restaurant or table employee is ever going to complain if you leave a tip. Who would? But the general attitude in Spain is that everyone receives a salary for the job they're employed to do, so why would only specific jobs attract a tip? As in, why would you leave some extra cash for a waiter, hairdresser or taxi driver, but not for a shopkeeper or car mechanic?
And nobody tips taxi drivers or hairdressers; only restaurant floor staff get them.
But Spain's general approach to tipping is: Restaurant floor staff may have done an exceptional job and deserve a tip, yet what about those employees you don't see, such as the chef?
In smaller premises, tips are likely to be shared out anyway, but the overall consensus in Spain is that these are for excellent service, not just bog-standard, lukewarm service where you're 'processed'.
Whilst in some countries, tips make up a substantial percentage of a worker's income, and catering staff may be among the lowest-paid, bar and restaurant employees in Spain are usually average earners, and it is considered to be the employer's responsibility to pay them their full salary rather than the boss expecting to save money through the generosity of customers.
A few euros on a saucer is fine, but regular, significant percentages of diners' bills paid in cash would effectively mean a large chunk of the employee's income is non-legitimate, or undeclared, with all the disadvantages this entails for the worker.
After all, it is a criminal offence for an employer to pay any part of staff's wages in undocumented cash.
The upshot of all this is that, although a small tip is very welcome, it is not considered 'rude' to omit to leave one at all – and it cannot be added onto your bill as standard.
As Legalitás, Consumoteca and Asistencia Legal all recall, “as a general rule, what isn't written down does not legally exist,” so no charges can be made to the customer that are not stated on the menu.
Customers must be expressly told of any charges, via the menu or verbally, before they order, and prices cannot, by law, differ from those advertised.
What happens if I'm charged for something I wasn't warned about?
'Hidden extras' not being permitted, in the unlikely event you are hit with charges you were not advised about, or were not clearly written down, or are for an aspect for which it is illegal to apply an additional price, you should decline to pay these and request a complaint form (Hoja de Reclamaciones), which all businesses operating in Spain are required to have in stock.
The owners or management will be expected to fill in a copy of the form, too, and you should take these to your nearest regional consumer centre or municipal consumer information office (OMIC).
If, upon investigation, the consumer office considers the bar or restaurant has broken the law, its owners could face disciplinary action, according to customer claims website Reclamador.es.
Getting your money back if you've paid, though, means going to small claims court, but this is not normally economically viable as the cost of filing the case will probably exceed the amount you're seeking to recover.
Don't sweat it too much, though. It's very improbable that a local bar or restaurant will 'try it on', since they are aware of what's legal and what's not, and as approximately 75% of companies in Spain are small and medium-sized businesses, they know they cannot afford to risk being fined, closed down, or gaining a poor reputation.
In fact, you're far more likely to find the exact opposite: An immediate refill without charge if you spill your drink, as many knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups or glasses as you think you need upon request, the occasional free plate of nibbles thrown in, drinks and plates carried to where you're sitting if you're struggling despite a huge sign up saying 'no table service', a 'no-pressure' invitation to 'pay next time you're passing' if your card is declined or you've left your purse at home, and being allowed to use the toilet or given a free glass of tap water if you ask nicely even when you're not actively a customer at that moment.
They shouldn't be charging you to use their Wi-Fi, either, but virtually nowhere does so anyway.
Bars, cafés and restaurants in Spain have had a hard time over the last couple of years, with hefty restrictions and, at times, complete shutdowns due to Covid, and now, a former customer base who is so used to not going out for drinks or meals that they barely remember to do so. Pre-pandemic, we'd have been lost without them, so give them as much support as you can – they deserve it.
Related Topics
WELL-TRAVELLED people who have experienced an international range of bars and restaurants will no doubt have discovered that different countries have very disparate approaches to what they charge for, how much they charge, and what's included in individual prices. Indeed, in some parts of some countries, seasoned tourists may already know to check the cost of a drink or meal before they order.
Then there's obligatory tipping in certain parts of the world – an amount which will not necessarily appear on the bill, but you're expected to know that you should increase what you pay by X%, but which sometimes does appear on the bill as an additional cost you were not expecting, under the heading of 'service charge'.
Depending upon which nation, town or city, or even individual premises you're in, you might have found prices were different depending upon whether you have your drink at the bar or at a table, and whether or not you make use of the waiting service – and, in others, you might find there's no table service even at restaurants, so you have to carry your own drinks or plates to where you're sitting.
And in a bar or café, are you supposed to pay for each drink as you order it, or do you run up a 'tab' and settle the bill at the end?
Luckily, in Spain, it's all a lot more straightforward. At least, it should be, if everyone complies with the law – and Spanish culture is, generally, to do just that. It's a 'collectivist' society, where rules are followed and the general interest, or greater good, normally takes priority over individual wants or needs.
But what are those rules, exactly?
Consumer organisations and legal advisors have explained what cafés and restaurants can and cannot charge you for, and how to tell the difference.
Tap water
If you're in the southern mainland region of Andalucía, in the Balearic Islands, or in the northern territories of Castilla y León or Navarra, you can ask for a glass – or several, or even a jug – of tap water, and it is against the law to charge you for it.
Elsewhere in the country, bars and restaurants are not obliged to give you free tap water, meaning if they do so, it's merely out of courtesy.
Generally, doing so is good customer service, and it's unlikely they'll refuse; if they do, you can legitimately file a complaint on the grounds that water is a communal and basic commodity and that you had a specific need for it at the time, although as there is no obligation in regions other than the four stated, you probably won't get anywhere with it.
Tap water is drinkable anywhere in Spain unless otherwise stated, even though the majority of Spaniards still buy it in bottles, a habit that has stayed with them from the days when drinking from the tap was not advisable.
Bars and restaurants all over Spain can and do charge for bottled water.
Airports in Spain are required by law to retail bottle water airside, with a maximum price of €1 – although, of course, these €1 bottles will typically be only 200ml to 330ml.
Ice
In soft drinks, in bottled water, or in coffee – where it's known as a café del tiempo – ice cubes are normally free of charge. Sometimes a café del tiempo, which comes with a glass of ice on the side to pour your coffee into, may cost a few cents more than a 'standard' coffee, but it is not normal in Spain to pay extra for ice cubes.
That said, it does happen at times, especially in more expensive, trendy and modern bars – other than in Catalunya where a regional law expressly bans a surcharge for ice.
Law firm Legálitas and consumer website Consumoteca both say that if ice cubes cost extra, this must be clearly stated on the menu or on a price list displayed inside the premises.
Anything that attracts a charge must be shown on one or the other.
Bars and restaurants cannot simply fill a glass with ice without checking first and then add the extra cost to the bill, nor can they charge the additional fee just because they asked you when you ordered 'if you'd like ice with it'. Whether requested, or whether the ice cubes come as standard, the person serving you is required by law to tell you when you place the order if they come at a further cost.
Bread
Once upon a time in Spain, practically every restaurant would bring you a basket of bread, sometimes with all i oli or olive oil to dip it in, ahead of your meal, and it was just an extra thrown in without cost.
In more recent years, the bread basket would still be included in the fixed price of a set menu, such as the immensely-popular and cheap menú del día or lunchtime 'meal deal'; but when ordering à la carte, the bread became more likely to attract an additional fee.
Until recently, staff would automatically bring bread to the table, and diners would often find they had been charged for it even if they did not order it.
Bread is still a 'complimentary' feature in some restaurants, particularly small, family-run outfits.
When it's a set menu, the bread, and one glass of wine or bottle of water, must always be included in the price, unless the meal description explicitly states that all drinks are subject to a further charge.
As a general rule, bread comes as an integral part of a set menu and, even if stated, cannot be subject to an additional price - although you may be charged extra if you finish it off and ask for some more.
If a charge applies when dining à la carte, it must be stated on the menu and, where this is the case, if bread is automatically brought to your table without being specifically ordered, you can ask for it to be taken away and for the cost not to be included in the bill.
Otherwise, where the bread comes automatically but at a cost, you have the right to ask for less of it if you know your party will not manage to eat it all, and this reduction in quantity must be reflected in the price.
Toilets
Use of the lavatories is always a thorny issue in Spain – other than in shopping centres and in large branches of supermarkets, or at railway or bus stations, there are rarely any public toilets. It is not at all common to find them out on the street, and many public buildings or government offices do not have this facility available except for employees.
What can you do, then, if you're caught short?
Don't even think about 'going' behind a tree. If you're caught, and you probably will be, you'll be fined.
If the only toilet within comfortable walking distance is in a bar, unless it's very crowded and you can slip in unnoticed, or you're prepared to get shouted at very indignantly by the owners, you'll need to order something when using their loo.
Typically, a small bottle of water costs about or just under €1, and it's normally the cheapest thing you can buy.
Public toilets in stations and shopping centres practically never involve a charge in Spain – you can just waltz in and out again.
No laws exist in Spain banning non-customers from using bar toilets, nor obliging bars to let the general public use them – all regional governments leave it up to the proprietors to decide, and the majority will expect you to order something.
If it's one of your 'locals', you often eat or drink there anyway, and the owners or staff know you well, they'll probably let you use the ladies' or gents' if you're passing and hadn't planned to stop; occasionally, even if you're a stranger, if you ask nicely, they still might let you.
One thing is very clear, though: If you're a customer in a bar or restaurant, you cannot be charged for use of the toilets, according to all regions' laws. Every customer has the right to use the conveniences on the premises without extra payment.
Some bars, however, will expect you to ask the staff for the key, and at large chains, you might have to tap in a code given on your receipt to unlock the cubicle.
'Price according to market'
This is sometimes found on restaurant menus where produce is bought freshly that same day – the most common situation is for a fish dish labelled 'catch of the day' where what ends up on your plate depends upon what was at the crack-of-dawn harbour market as the local fishermen unloaded their haul upon returning home. It's hard to get fish fresher than at an early-hours harbour market, straight from the sea – which means these wares are highly sought-after among restaurateurs.
Morning fishermen markets are typically auctions, and prices paid by bidders vary according to the volume and quality of the catch, as well as the types of fish or shellfish and whether they are a rare delicacy or brought ashore by the tonne every day of the year.
But, guess what? That's illegal, say Consumoteca and Legalitás.
It's perfectly okay to vary the price according to how much was paid at auction, or what the produce in question is currently on sale for, and it's fine to describe a dish on a menu as containing 'seasonal vegetables' or 'catch of the day' without specifying exactly what they are (some diners like surprises and enjoy the intrigue and variation).
What the restaurant cannot do, though, is include an item on a menu without stating exactly how much the customer will be charged for it.
Law service Asistencia Legal says: “The actual price must always appear on the menu. If the cost varies according to what was charged for the wholesale produce, then the menu needs to be updated as often as the bar or restaurant changes the end price.”
In the case of the 'catch of the day', this means if a restaurant pays more or less depending upon season and availability, they have to change their menu daily to reflect this so the customer always knows what he or she will be spending before ordering.
Value-added tax, use of knives and forks, booking charges...
Perhaps you've ordered a meal in a restaurant whilst on holiday and, when the bill came, found it was 15% or 20% or 25% higher than you'd calculated from the prices on the menu. And when you asked why, or analysed the ticket, found that value-added tax (VAT, or IVA) had been charged on top.
You won't have been in Spain when that happened to you – if you were, the bar or restaurant owners were breaking the law. All prices stated on menus or on displayed drinks and meals lists must come with the IVA, or VAT, already included.
It's not good enough to give the 'net' prices and then state at the bottom of the page, 'plus IVA at X%'. Customers are not expected to have to read small print or do mental arithmetic before deciding what to eat or drink. And that's final. No exceptions.
Charging extra for a knife and fork sounds surreal, but some restaurants, when a diner orders a dish and shares it with his or her companion because they cannot manage a whole one each, might include a surcharge for a second set of cutlery.
It is not clear whether this is legal, although in all cases, if the surcharge is not stated explicitly, it is against the law.
An additional fee for individual diners for a set of cutlery to use with their own, individual dish is, in fact, illegal, and displaying such a fee prominently on a menu does not make it any less illegal.
Even if you order a dish that you would typically eat with your fingers, but want a knife and fork for – such as a plate of prawns, or perhaps a cake or baguette that you want to cut up rather than ram into your mouth whole – you still cannot be charged for the cutlery you expressly request.
An extra charge to reserve a table is more of a grey area, but is rare, given that, especially post-Covid and particularly in tourist-heavy or densely-populated parts of Spain, it is difficult to just walk into a restaurant and guarantee there'll be a table free in any case.
As a general rule, restaurants do not add on a fee for booking, and are morally obliged not to; in Catalunya and Andalucía, they are legally obliged not to. In fact, in the latter, prominently-displayed notices are often in place reminding customers that it is against the law for them to be charged extra for booking or for cutlery, or for variations in market prices of produce where these are different from the amount stated on the menu.
In touristy areas out of season, and at off-peak times – such as a weekday night – it may be perfectly possible to walk into a local restaurant off the street and ask for a table, and get one. But you should always pop the question and wait to be seated; it is considered bad manners in Spain to stroll into a restaurant and sit where you please without asking first, even if the premises are practically empty and even though you will probably be invited to choose your own when you do.
This is not the case with bars, cafés, fast-food chains, or most hotels, though; in these, you just enter and sit down.
'Service charge'
Tips are not compulsory in Spain, and you should not find an extra cost added to your bill for 'service charge' – even though you may have been to countries where the tip was included in the ticket or where you would have been treated almost like a thief for not giving a set percentage on top of the stated price as a gratuity.
You can leave a tip if you want, although it is not the 'done thing' just for drinks in bars, and in restaurants you would typically only leave the change, if it's small-denomination coins, or just pop a euro or two in the saucer.
No restaurant or table employee is ever going to complain if you leave a tip. Who would? But the general attitude in Spain is that everyone receives a salary for the job they're employed to do, so why would only specific jobs attract a tip? As in, why would you leave some extra cash for a waiter, hairdresser or taxi driver, but not for a shopkeeper or car mechanic?
And nobody tips taxi drivers or hairdressers; only restaurant floor staff get them.
But Spain's general approach to tipping is: Restaurant floor staff may have done an exceptional job and deserve a tip, yet what about those employees you don't see, such as the chef?
In smaller premises, tips are likely to be shared out anyway, but the overall consensus in Spain is that these are for excellent service, not just bog-standard, lukewarm service where you're 'processed'.
Whilst in some countries, tips make up a substantial percentage of a worker's income, and catering staff may be among the lowest-paid, bar and restaurant employees in Spain are usually average earners, and it is considered to be the employer's responsibility to pay them their full salary rather than the boss expecting to save money through the generosity of customers.
A few euros on a saucer is fine, but regular, significant percentages of diners' bills paid in cash would effectively mean a large chunk of the employee's income is non-legitimate, or undeclared, with all the disadvantages this entails for the worker.
After all, it is a criminal offence for an employer to pay any part of staff's wages in undocumented cash.
The upshot of all this is that, although a small tip is very welcome, it is not considered 'rude' to omit to leave one at all – and it cannot be added onto your bill as standard.
As Legalitás, Consumoteca and Asistencia Legal all recall, “as a general rule, what isn't written down does not legally exist,” so no charges can be made to the customer that are not stated on the menu.
Customers must be expressly told of any charges, via the menu or verbally, before they order, and prices cannot, by law, differ from those advertised.
What happens if I'm charged for something I wasn't warned about?
'Hidden extras' not being permitted, in the unlikely event you are hit with charges you were not advised about, or were not clearly written down, or are for an aspect for which it is illegal to apply an additional price, you should decline to pay these and request a complaint form (Hoja de Reclamaciones), which all businesses operating in Spain are required to have in stock.
The owners or management will be expected to fill in a copy of the form, too, and you should take these to your nearest regional consumer centre or municipal consumer information office (OMIC).
If, upon investigation, the consumer office considers the bar or restaurant has broken the law, its owners could face disciplinary action, according to customer claims website Reclamador.es.
Getting your money back if you've paid, though, means going to small claims court, but this is not normally economically viable as the cost of filing the case will probably exceed the amount you're seeking to recover.
Don't sweat it too much, though. It's very improbable that a local bar or restaurant will 'try it on', since they are aware of what's legal and what's not, and as approximately 75% of companies in Spain are small and medium-sized businesses, they know they cannot afford to risk being fined, closed down, or gaining a poor reputation.
In fact, you're far more likely to find the exact opposite: An immediate refill without charge if you spill your drink, as many knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups or glasses as you think you need upon request, the occasional free plate of nibbles thrown in, drinks and plates carried to where you're sitting if you're struggling despite a huge sign up saying 'no table service', a 'no-pressure' invitation to 'pay next time you're passing' if your card is declined or you've left your purse at home, and being allowed to use the toilet or given a free glass of tap water if you ask nicely even when you're not actively a customer at that moment.
They shouldn't be charging you to use their Wi-Fi, either, but virtually nowhere does so anyway.
Bars, cafés and restaurants in Spain have had a hard time over the last couple of years, with hefty restrictions and, at times, complete shutdowns due to Covid, and now, a former customer base who is so used to not going out for drinks or meals that they barely remember to do so. Pre-pandemic, we'd have been lost without them, so give them as much support as you can – they deserve it.