Don't try to bring ham back to the states

They'll throw it out. The people in the Madrid airport will happily sell it to you, however

Funny, we just had a similar thing happen to us...

My husband just had his santo in March and my birthday was in February so his family sent us this huge & really expensive care package filled with paté, mojama, salchichón, chorizo.......you name it. Unfortunately it had been ransacked by Customs by the time it made it to us.....

One wonders.....where do all these confiscated delicacies go?

Sadly, we had to impart the bad news to our family so that they don't make the same mistake again.....

Saludos!
Sarita

That's a shame. But they do what they have to.
I made sure to grab a sandwich at the airport before I boarded the plane. Much better than the airplane food.

If you have it with you (and don't declare it) when you pass thru Customs & Agriculture, you may also be subject to a hefty ($200) fine as well as having your stuff confiscated.

There are some products that have USDA approval (from Ireland: Irish bacon & bangers (sausages)). They seal packages and put a USDA sticker on them at the 'Duty Free.'

Those drug sniffing dogs love the smell of Chorizo.

hey eddie...hefty is an understatement for those fines...this topic was discussed at length a few months ago...the fines can be up to $1000...or MORE! go check out the USDA or US Customs web sites and read the regulations...

It IS possible to bring jamon back to the U.S., but it is exceedingly difficult. One needs to find that rare vendor who can issue a certificate of origin that has been approved by the USDA. It's almost like having "papers" for a pet animal that go back to, in this case, the factory where the ham was produced rather than the puppy farm where the pet was bred. The best advice is to eat all the jamon you can while in Spain, and take the memories back with you.

You can't bring back Cuban cigars, either! Smoke 'em in Madrid and enjoy the aroma witha nice cup of café expresso!MMMMMMM

Hey MadridMan, hope you're reading this, have a smoke for me! :p

yeah booklady but the USDA dogs aren't trained to sniff out cigars...

Hey Big Jamon,
Are you sure? Do you happen by chance to know, of somene, not yourself, of course, who took the risk and brought some?

I'd be too afraid! They might send me back to Cuba!

booklady...i'm not 100% sure but i've had them walk right past me...plus if they were trained to sniff out tobacco they'd be hitting on too many people to be effective...

I know someone who brought back some Cuban cigars in her bags. She said she took the wrappers off and hid them. I was told by some ladies that putting them with tampons is a safe bet you won't get searched. But, not sure on that.

Anyway, she said she heard that you could actually bring some back in, as long as their value was less than $200. Anyone hear of this?

anyone know about jamon if it is in a vacuum seal pouch? I´m taking some when i get on a plane tomorrow to the States. Well, we´ll see how it goes, I tell everyone here what happens.

doesn't matter if it's vacuum sealed...still forbidden...gotta have a USDA seal on it. you may still get it past custom if the gods are smiling on you that day...good luck.

about the cigars...yes technically if you remove the bands customs can't prove they are cubans...but they're not stupid so why piss off someone that can give you a cavity search...
as to the $200 legal limit it only applies if you've made a legal trip to cuba itself and i believe it's only $100, though maybe that's been changed

Yes, some people dare to take the risk, some get their jamon through and some don't. I know people that swear wrapping it in duck tape hides the smell....but who knows. Why risk it when there are some usda approved vendors right here in the US, check out La Tienda http://www.tienda.com/ (link at bottom of page) or La Espanola Meats in California at http://www.laespanolameats.com/

I came through customs in Atlanta, yesterday from Spain, and witnessed the saddest thing.
An elderly Spanish man had all his jamon, chorizo and lomo confiscated from customs...and it was all vacum-packed.

I felt bad for him, but it distracted customs for me and they actually let me take my bocadillo de jamon through.
Never one for lying, I declared I had a "ham sandwich", at which point the customs officer asked to see it. I took the baquette out of my bag and waved it at him. He laughed and gave me a look like he had to take it from me. Well, I must have looked devestated, I said, "Please, NO, I'll eat it right here!" He whispered, "Put it back in your bag and have a nice day!"
Needless to say, I had a great lunch today in the teacher's lounge!!! :p

I gave it a shot and tried to take some vacuumed sealed ham through customs and it went straight to the trash. I know you can get it in the states but I was hoping for some fresh stuff, (I haven´t ordered from the online spanish foods stored in the US, so I dont know how they are). It was only about 10€ worth so it wasn´t so bad, I just felt like testing the waters and making sure. oh well.