Tipping in Madrid Restaurants and Bars

What are tipping protocols/rates in Madrid restaurants and bars?

Will a gratuity be added to the bill automatically?

How do we tip for tapas?

I hope I can post this before I am chastised by MadridMan.
Yes ... I did find his very useful description of tipping elsewhere on his page. I would still appreciate any additional anecdotal information he or other travelers might be able to pass along!

[ 10-01-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I always tip about 10% and staff are very grateful for this. I have noticed that the Spanish themselves do not leave large tips so what we tourists give is well received.

CHASTISED!?? I'm DEEPLY OHffended, hsilcox! :o .

SuePycroft's right. Spaniards leave very little if anything at all at bars, but usually no more than 10%. You might read other previous postings about tipping in Spain. I recall one where the wait staff was OFFENDED and shouted at the patron for leaving a HUGE tip! Imagine that!

Unlike in other parts of the world, waiters/bar tenders in Spain do not depend on tips and are usually paid fairly well.

[ 10-01-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Hi!

A 10% tip is a very generous one (in general) in Spain. You will never find the tip included in the bill, it is something voluntary and depends on how satisfied you are with the service.

For example: Suppose a bill of 6.000 ptas with 3 persons. 600 will be fine, even more if you are satisfied (and it will not be surprising).

But let's say you have a tip of 30.000 ptas, 6 customers. It will be quite exagerated to leave 3.000 ptas. A quantity between 1.000 and 2.000 would be more adequate.

Hope this helps.

Fernando

As long as we are on the subject of tipping, may I offer a "tip" to the Spaniards on the board?
Unlike in Spain, American waiters do depend on their tips to make a living, so, customary is 11-15%, up to 20% if the service is exceptional.
I had a table of 4 Spaniards on Sat. night at our Spanish restaurant, and I struggled as to whether I should have added a gratuity, I did not want to discriminate, and ended up with a less than 5% tip on a 90.00 bill! I'm sure they tell you in the guidebooks of the U.S. but I thought I would throw my two cents in here.

Thanks for letting my vent!

Mmmm, this is one of the differences of customes in our two countries

In Spain a waiter doesn't depend on tips to live. An average wages could be 90.000 to 120.000 ptas (500$ to 650$). Usually they earn a 20% more with tips. Therefore, we normally give tips of 5%, up to 10%. It is never included in the bill.

When I was in USA I was shocked when I was charged a 30% more than the prices on the carte: a 15% for state taxes and a 15% more for tips. For me (very young at that time) it was really disgusting, I was not used to it, nor did I expected it. I didn't understand until now why the tips were so high and why they were sometimes included in the bill

Here you pay the prices you are telled in advance, and what you want to give as tip depending on your generosity (even if you leave nothing nobody is going to tell you anything). The taxes are normally included in the prices.

If you have spaniards in your restaurant in the future now you know that you should explain them the difference between tips here and there (if you want a tip of more than a 5%).

Regards

30% on top of menu prices!!!! And theres some guy elsewhere on the site moaning that he doesnt get free refills of coke in Europe Americans eh?

When I studied in Salamanca last year, my program told us that tips in general are just spare change, ie if the bill is 3.700 you would leave 4.000, and if the bill was 3.500 you wouldn't necessarily have spare change and wouldn't be wrong to leave nothing. After reading this thread it seems as if it is more necessary than I thought to leave a tip. When I was in Barcelona in July it was the case that our bill was an even amount, so we didn't leave anything, and when the waiter came to collect the money he glared at us and was like, "Más, más." I figured he just took us for unknowledgeable tourists and was trying to trick us into leaving a substantial tip. Is that true? If Spaniards go out to eat, do you always leave a tip?

Well, I always leave a tip. Everyone I know leaves a tip (at least some coins).

If you don't leave any tip then you mean that you are very dissatisfied with the service, and the waiter will be surprised.

A couple of times I have being so upset (long time waiting, food cold, or bad manners) as to not to leave any single peseta. But that is an exception, not the rule. Leave a 5%-10% and it will be fine.

And yes, if the bill is 3700 and you leave 4000 it is ok (it is what people normally do, to round the bill).

Fernando

I was in Spain in May of this year and I too researched the tip issue prior to our trip. I have been in & out of the food service business for 15 years and am usually a very good tipper so it was hard to go to a country where it is not expected. I felt very little reaction to what we left which was usually 10 percent, just a polite gracias so I was still uncertain. I did get a nice kiss from a very good looking (Dutch) bartender when I left 1000 pesetas on a 5000 bar tab which unless my calculations are wrong that's only $5-6US on a $30 tab?? So... that could influence your motivation! I did meet an American living in Barcelona who also explained the same thing about how their wages are much higher. We ended up feeling comfortable with 5% on a small bill or bar tab but usually still left 10% on a dinner bill. Service was usually so good that I did not have a problem leaving more and with the food so reasonable, 10% is not as much as you would tip in the US for the same type of meal.

[ 10-11-2001: Message edited by: betharita ]

Laduque, I feel your pain on getting stiffed on the Spaniard table. We have two Spaniards that come into our Spanish restaurant every Friday night after their futbol game. They sit for hours eating tapas and having drinks and usually ring up a $100 bill. The bartender is fortunate if he gets a dollar from them! This isn't just a Spanish thing though because 99% of the time I have a table with customers from Latin America we can usually bet on getting 10% or less even if they had a wonderful time. This to me is soooo frustrating. Min. wage for servers in the US is around $3.00. A gratuity is not an additional gift like it is in other countries.
I would be less annoyed by this under tipping practice if I thought that these people don't know because their new to the country. However, most of the Spaniards and Lat. Americans I know that do this have lived here for years and are familiar with the practice.

I also think it would be strange for any restaurant to add 30% onto a bill. This has never happened to me in all my years of dining out. I even believe it would be illegal. Many restaurants do charge a "service charge" of 15% to 20% on checks that have parties of more than 6 or 8. They do this because having a large table consumes all of a server's time and if they get stiffed they have made no money for the entire evening.

[Jaime....who has been waiting on tables for way to long ]

Ouch! 3 dollars they earn?????

Here the least a waiter earns is 600$!!!! (plus tips).

Don't think that latin americans have the same customs as spaniards, yes, we share some common points, but in other we are quite different.

I was charged an extra 30% (15% for taxes, 15% for tips) in the Washington DC's Planet Hollywood. As you may guess (I didn't know about the wages) I felt angry when the bill reached to me...

Why this customs are so different in every country? We could avoid this embarrasing situations

Fernando

Fernando, I should have clarified that it is 3 per hour. Although it could be as low as $2.70 or so. As you pointed out, Lat. Am. culture is very different than Spanish but the tipping practice is the same. The servers in other countries are paid a higher wage so that the gratuity is not the majority of compensation (I agree with this). When I was in Spain I carried over my American tradition of tipping and always gave around 15% if service was decent. Although,on the way to the airport to go home, I did give the rest of my pesetas (a lot) to the first honest taxi driver I had. I think he almost had a heart attack

In my oppinion it is unfair the way of tipping in the USA, specially when they include the tip in the check. Restaurant owners should increase the amount they pay to their waiters and not trust in the tipping. I had felt really bad sometimes when I have not received a good treat on a restaurant and found that a 15% tip has been included on the check; with the tip we are paying the service, so if service is not goog, why should we pay it and in an amount decided by the restaurant owner?
Personaly i think is better the way it works in Spain.

Actually I like our custom here in the U.S. For good service, we reward the server with 15% to 20% as a tip. For bad service... nada, or at the very most 5% to 10%.

The reason I like this approach is that it should make the wait staff a little more attentive to their customers. If they aren't, the tip suffers. As an example, when my wife and I order ice tea, we expect that the wait staff will ask us if we want refills. Just yesterday, while we were eating out, we ate our whole meal, and couldn't attract the waitress' attention to re-fill our ice teas. Then, when she tried to "sell us on a dessert," we said we weren't interested, and my wife asked her directly why she didn't bother to check on us during our meal. She just shrugged, and said, "Busy!"

My wife just shrugged, and put down a penny for a tip, and said, "Tip!"

The waitress walked away red faced, and very much aware of the way we felt.

Wolf

Not to turn this into the server's venting corner but here I go....Felix, if you feel the service was substandard and you are automatically charged for the "gratuity" then you have the right to flag down the manager or the server and say you don't want to tip that much because the service does not merit it.
On the other hand, if in the menu it states there is a "service charge" which is a mandatory percentage placed on the food, then this is a part of the cost of dining there and restaurant owners are obliged to pay tax on it. However, I bet if you thought the service was bad in this situation and you told a manager they would refund a portion of your check or try to make you happy in some way, if they want your business in the future.

Wolf, I agree that tipping makes the server more attentive but I hope you consider a few variables before being harsh on your server.
If you're service hasn't been that great take a look around the restaurant. If its packed and they are clearly understaffed, this isn't the fault of the worker but that of management. Now if the restaurnt is dead and you can see your server chatting with friends and ignoring you then you are more justified in giving a crappy tip. I can't tell you how many times I have been responsible in coming into work and had other employees just not show up, call in sick etc...leaving me understaffed and overextended. Many customers are kind in a situation like that because they too at some point probably had to put themselves through school waiting on tables. On the other hand, you can have the demanding impatient jerk who doesn't care if you're running around with your head cut off.

I think everybody should have to wait on others in some point in their lives because it would certainly make everyone alot more patient and understanding.

Sermon over

At restaurants over here if there is a service charge then most people consider that to be the tip and wont leave anything else over that-in effect youd be tipping twice.If theres no mandatory service charge then we tip dependant on quality of food and service.Seems reasonable to me.

I also worked i restaurant during high school and for a little while in college. Frankly, I was a terrible server, and probably wouldn't do it again if I could help it. I think a lot of people don't understand how difficult it is, especially in the States, where meals are faster and there is more turnover. You run your butt off. I used to go home and almost cry with relief when I took my shoes off - my feet were so swollen.

Anyway, I am a particularly good tipper, because I saw people get stiffed so many times for things that weren't there fault. In some ways I prefer the European and Latin American systems, because the servers don't have to try to ingratiate themselves so much to the customers (I am picturing myself waiting tables having to smile and be nice to people that treat you like dog crap, so you can have grocery money that night). People here often have all sorts of strange rules that they concoct for tipping - most of them completely arbitrary.

Anyway, I usually try to look at service as a whole and make my judgement on that. I am so well trained though, that it is really hard for me not to over-tip in other countries, even though I know it isn't appropriate.

[ 10-13-2001: Message edited by: Nicole ]

I see that this thread is about 6 years old so I thought I'd ask if standards have changed now that the Euro is king?

Is it still basically, round up on small checks, and 5-10% on a dinner bill?

sorry late response, tipping is personal. Depends on the service and the place you are at,the frequency you go there ,etc.
generally speaking i round up to the euro bill;unless its a place i frequent than i tip 10%.
look to see if the tip is already included on the total bill.

Hello!
As you are asking about tiping in Spain I will post here the definition of the "Real Academia Española de la Lengua":

propina.

(Del b. lat. propina).


1. f. Agasajo que sobre el precio convenido y como muestra de satisfacción se da por algún servicio.

2. f. Gratificación pequeña con que se recompensa un servicio eventual.

3. f. Colación o agasajo que se repartía entre los concurrentes a una junta, y que después se redujo a dinero.

de ~.

1. loc. adv. coloq. además.

According to this definition a tip is a gift, never a salary, to thank a good service and it is voluntary. We usually give 10% or 5% decreasing as the bill increases. That's the most common way to tip among my friends and people I know.

Very nice! Thank you.