Post offices (
Correos ) are
generally found near the
centre of towns and are
normally open from 8am
to noon and again from 5
to 7.30pm, though big
branches in large cities
may have considerably
longer hours and usually
do not close at midday.
Except in the cities
there's only one post
office in each town, and
queues can be long:
stamps are also sold at
tobacconists (look for
the brown and yellow
Tabac sign).
You can have letters
sent poste restante
( Lista de Correos
) to any Spanish post
office: they should be
addressed (preferably
with the surname
underlined and in
capitals) to Lista de
Correos followed by
the name of the town and
province. To collect,
take along your passport
and, if you're expecting
mail, ask the clerk to
check under all of your
names - letters are
often to be found filed
under first or middle
names.
Outbound mail
is reasonably reliable,
with letters or cards
taking around five days
to a week to the UK and
Europe, a week to ten
days to North America,
New Zealand and
Australia.
Phones
Spanish public
phones
work well and have
instructions in English.
If you can't find one,
many bars also have pay
phones you can use.
Cabins and other phones
have been adapted to
take the new euro
currency but you're best
off buying a phone card
(from a
kiosko or
tabac ) of ¬6 or
¬12 which avoids hassles
finding the right change.
All cabins should
display instructions in
a variety of languages.
Spanish provincial (and
some overseas) dialling
codes are displayed in
the cabins. The
ringing tone is
long,
engaged is
shorter and rapid; the
standard Spanish
response is
digáme
("speak to me"), often
abbreviated to
diga
, or the even more
laconic
si .
For international
calls , you can use
any street cabin or go
to a locutorio ,
an office where you pay
afterwards. Phoning
within Spain is cheaper
after 6pm and all
weekend for metropolitan
and inter-provincial
calls. International
rates are slightly
cheaper between midnight
and 8am; the reduced
rates apply all day on
Saturday and Sunday. If
you're using a cabin to
call abroad and don't
use a phone card, you're
best off putting at
least ¬2 in to ensure a
connection.
Email
One of the best ways to
keep in touch while
travelling is to sign up
for a free internet
email address that
can be accessed from
anywhere, for example
YahooMail or Hotmail -
accessible through
www.yahoo.com and
www.hotmail.com .
Once you've set up an
account, you can use
these sites to pick up
and send mail from any
internet café or hotel
with internet access.
www.kropka.com
is a useful website
giving details of how to
plug your laptop in when
abroad, phone country
codes around the world,
and information about
electrical systems in
different countries.
The internet
The internet has
made great inroads into
Spanish life and access
is widely available at
internet cafés (more
commonly referred to as
cibercafés in
Spanish), some computer
shops and many
locutorios . Prices
vary; in cities hourly
rates can be as little
as ¬1.80, rising to
around ¬6 in some
smaller towns.
Media
Of the Spanish
newspapers the best
are the centre-left
El País and the
centre-right El Mundo
, both of which have
good arts and foreign
news coverage, including
comprehensive regional "what's
on" listings and
supplements every
weekend. Other national
papers include the
solidly elitist ABC
and Barcelona's
nationalist La
Vanguardia . The
regional press is
generally run by local
magnates and is
predominantly right-wing,
though often supporting
local autonomy movements.
Nationalist press
includes Avui in
Catalunya, printed
largely in Catalan, and
the Basque papers El
Correo Español del
Pueblo Vasco, Deia
and Gara , the
last a supporter of ETA.
British newspapers
and the International
Herald Tribune are
on sale in most large
cities and resorts.
There are also various
English-language
magazines produced by
and for the expatriate
communities in the main
cities and on the
costas ; all are of
limited interest, though
occasionally they carry
details of local events
and entertainment.
