Maps
In addition to the maps in this guide, virtually indestructible, waterproof Rough Guide maps are available covering Andalucía and the Costa del Sol, Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca and Northern Spain. You’ll also find a good selection of road maps in most Spanish bookshops, street kiosks and service stations. Most widely available are the regional Michelin maps (1:400,000), covering the country (including the Balearics) in a series of nine maps, though there are also whole-country maps and atlas-format versions available. Other good country and regional maps are those published by Distrimapas Telstar (distrimapas-telstar.es), which also produces reliable indexed street plans of the main cities. Any good book or travel shop in your own country should be able to provide a decent range of Spain maps, or buy online from specialist stores such as stanfords.co.uk or randmcnally.com.
You can buy hiking/trekking maps from specialist map/travel shops in Spain, including La Tienda Verde in Madrid (tiendaverde.es), and Librería Quera (llibreriaquera.com) or Altaïr (altair.es) in Barcelona. These and other bookshops stock the full range of topographical maps issued by two government agencies – the Instituto Geográfico Nacional and the Servicio Geográfico del Ejército – available at scales of 1:200,000, 1:100,000, 1:50,000 and occasionally 1:25,000. The various SGE series are considered to be more up to date, although neither agency is hugely reliable. A Catalunya-based company, Editorial Alpina (editorialalpina.com), produces useful 1:40,000 or 1:25,000 map/booklet sets for most of the Spanish mountain and foothill areas of interest, and these are also on sale in many bookshops.
Money
Spain’s currency is the euro (€), with notes issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros, and coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 euros. Up-to-the-minute currency exchange rates are posted on oanda.com.
By far the easiest way to get money is to use your bank debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM, found in villages, towns and cities all over Spain, as well as on arrival at the airports and major train stations. You can usually withdraw up to €300 a day, and instructions are offered in English once you insert your card. Make sure you have a personal identification number (PIN) that’s designed to work overseas, and take a note of your bank’s emergency contact number in case the machine swallows your card. Some European debit cards can also be used directly in shops to pay for purchases; you’ll need to check first with your bank.
All major credit cards are accepted in hotels, restaurants and shops, and for tours, tickets and transport, though don’t count on being able to use them in every small pensión or village café. You can also use your credit card in an ATM to withdraw cash, though remember that these advances will be treated as loans, with interest accruing daily from the date of withdrawal. If you use a foreign credit card in some shops, you may also be asked for photo ID, so be prepared to show a driving licence or passport. Make sure you make a note of the number for reporting lost or stolen cards to your credit card company.
Spanish bancos (banks) and cajas de ahorros (savings banks) have branches in all but the smallest villages. Banking hours are usually Monday to Friday 8.30am to 2pm, with some city branches open Saturday 8.30am to 1pm (except June–Sept when all banks close on Sat), although times can vary from bank to bank. Outside these times, it’s usually possible to change cash at larger hotels (generally with bad rates and low commission) or with travel agents – useful for small amounts in a hurry.
In tourist areas, you’ll also find specialist casas de cambio, with more convenient hours (though rates vary), while some major tourist offices, larger train stations and most branches of El Corte Inglés department store have exchange facilities open throughout business hours.
Opening hours
Almost everything in Spain – shops, museums, churches, tourist offices – closes for a siesta of at least two hours in the middle part of the day. There’s a lot of variation (and the siesta tends to be longer in the south), but you’ll get far less aggravated if you accept that the early afternoon is best spent asleep, or in a bar, or both.
Basic working hours are Monday to Friday 9.30am to 2pm and 5 to 8pm. Many shops open slightly later on a Saturday (at 10am) and close for the day at 2pm, though you’ll still find plenty of places open in cities, and there are regional variations. Moreover, department and chain stores and shopping malls tend to open a straight Monday to Saturday 10am to 9 or 10pm.
Museums and galleries, with very few exceptions, also have a break between 1 or 2pm and 4pm. On Sundays, most open mornings only, and on Mondays many close all day (museums are also usually closed Jan 1 & 6, May 1, Dec 24, 25 & 31). Opening hours vary from year to year, though often not by more than half an hour or so. Some are also seasonal, and usually in Spain, “summer” means from Easter until September, and “winter” from October until Easter.
The most important cathedrals, churches and monasteries operate in the same way as museums, with regular visiting hours and admission charges. Other churches, though, are kept locked, generally opening only for worship in the early morning and/or the evening (between around 6 and 9pm).
Public holidays
Alongside the Spanish national public holidays there are scores of regional holidays and local fiestas (often marking the local saint’s day), any of which will mean that everything except hotels, bars and restaurants locks its doors.
In addition, August is traditionally Spain’s own holiday month, when the big cities are semi-deserted, with many shops and restaurants closed for the duration. In contrast, it can prove nearly impossible to find a room in the more popular coastal and mountain resorts at these times; similarly, seats on planes, trains and buses in August should if possible be booked in advance.