Hi! I am in Plaza Mayor tonight and am leaving )sigh) for home tomorrow after 3 weeks of touring...and buying! I just logged into the U.S. Customs site and it looks like the allowance for purchases brought into the U.S. has recently been increased to $800. Since I have over the $400 allowance, I want to be absolutely sure about this. Has anyone come home recently with more than $400 worth (the old allowance) of oro, bordados, ropa, vino, etc?

After making the flight home, I can now intelligently answer my own question! The allowance for the amount of merchandise that can be brought back tax free into the US has been recently raised to $800 per person. Even though the the stewardess stated it was $400, said it was the wrong amount but "it was on the card"!

Anyway, I hope this info will help travelers in the future.
By the way, Hotel Plaza Mayor was great. Also went to Grenada, Cordoba, Ronda, Sevilla, Zafra, Santiago, a night in Leon and to the cities around Madrid. My only mistake was in not going to Zamora. Next time...