what is cheap in spain?

gubby

I am going on holidays to spain on sunday.. its my first time so can anyone tell me what is good value to bring back. want to get an mp3 player for my daughter. would i get good value there? any advice welcome!!!
ta

CJhaughey

Serrano ham is of a reasonable price,you might get a whole leg of blackfoot ham on a stand for round €200 or so maybe double that for the real good stuff.

Gone West

HAM!!! WTF? You cant bring meat back to Ireland from a foreign country, It's against customs regulations anyways.


OP: electronics probably wont be much cheaper unless you go into the cities (that means away from the resorts) and into the huge electronics retailers.

The_Conductor

CJhaughey wrote:

Serrano ham is of a reasonable price,you might get a whole leg of blackfoot ham on a stand for round €200 or so maybe double that for the real good stuff.

Lol- I needed a good laugh.....
Re MP3 players- most people seem to be going with Ipods these days.
There is absolutely no difference in the price over there to here.
I was quite surprised with prices over there tbh- I found electrical goods to be a lot cheaper over here- much to my surprise.

Cheap in Spain- eating out, alcohol, some clothing and footwear (read Savido/Basta/Mango etc)...... Unfortunately Spain seems to have caught up on a lot of other goods- its sole advantages seem to be services industries/raw materials. Its not the bargain hunter's paradise that it was a few years ago unfortunately......

Victor

Avoid electronics shop in tourist areas like the plague, many of them sell knock-off stuff under names like Sonyo (instead of Sanyo).

Agent Smith

vodka....


and take care not to buy "refurbished" electrical goods. most toursity places have small electrical shops that sell mp3 players/laptops/discman and next to nothing prices, but they are "refurbished" or they have fallen off the back of a lorry.

gilbert

alcohol,that is the cheapest stuff which i know in spain ,but dont try to buy any electronic stuffs in there ,they are still expensive.

gubby

hey thanks for the advice folks. btw. where is the best place to get an mp3 player? (cheapest)

hostyle

Andorra is duty free. Could be a bit of a journey depending which art of Spain you're going to. I picked up a digital camera there for 385 euro that retails for approx 500 online

hungryhippo

If you are going to the costa del sol, a day trip to gibraltar is well worth it for tax free goods. Cigarettes/tobacco and alcohol are the most heavily discounted items in Spain compared to Ireland. If you don't smoke maybe a friend would like you to bring some back as they are less than half the price. Also, when i was in spain last summer, many people attempted to bring back those mini electric scooters for kids as they are only about €200 versus over €500 here. The problem was that they were not allowed to take the batteries on the plane. As I recall there was an article in an English language newspaper over there at the time about them having collected over a thousand of the batteries at the airport in Malaga. The batteries are available here but I think they cost a lot so it wasn't really worth it. Also not legal to use on public highways here, I think.

sceptre

FuzzyLogic wrote:

HAM!!! WTF? You cant bring meat back to Ireland from a foreign country, It's against customs regulations anyways.

Oh tut tut. I brought kilos of rashers to people when I went to Japan.

(and I've edited the rest of the post. Except to say that chocolate is nice and ostrich meat isn't)

The_Conductor

There are a row of black bins immediately after passport control before baggage reclaim, and again after baggage reclaim- along with Department of Agriculture and Food officials milling around. There is a degree of trust involved- they are not going to rifle through people's luggage. Surely you don't want Asian Avian Flu or FMD to rear their ugly heads here (to say nothing about rabies and other nasties from people attempting to smuggle live animals- which does happen unfortunately. The last person who brought FMD in was hounded from the country remember...... (currently on the Isle of Man evading extradition)........

Please don't try to import meat illegally into the country- while it may not be difficult to do, it may possibly have reprecussions far and above any that you might imagine. Heed the advice of the DAF officials at the airport, and dispose of meat in the bins provided.

To the original poster- there are a number of Spanish clothing shops (Mango etc) it might be an idea to bring your daughter back clothes. Would not advise getting the MP3 player in Spain, for many of the reasons discussed on this thread.

CJhaughey

Cured meat is fine, you can't tell me that Spain has more of a problem with animal diseases than good ol' Ireland?
Cured Serrano is already available here, besides EU country and all that free movement of goods stuff.
I was only half joking when I said Serrano ham would be good to bring back, It really is a fantastic product , if you like ham.

shabbyroad

Drugs. Seriously. If you're on any prescription medication then you can get it dirt cheap without a prescription. Find out what the generic names are and you're away in a hack.
I stocked up on some of the meds I needed and saved a packet. No 'script needed.

brophy

If you can get to Andorra it is the place to go for drink and smokes. I have just come back from there last saturday, was over there snowboarding for a couple of weeks. I only brought back a couple of bottles but you can get a litre of Smirnoff for €5.65 and the cheaper vodka's for like €1.20 - €3.20 (these are the local supermarket prices)

Also for 200fags in well known brands you would be talking €18-€21

Dont know if it would be any use to you be ski and snowboard goods are also cheap, along with boarding, skateboarding genre of clothes (likes of quicksilver,oakley,cg, and the likes)

hope this helps

pablo21

Tobacco!!!!

Sarsfield

So far, we have drink, drugs, tobacco and red meat! So as a rule of thumb, if it will bring about your premature death, it's probably cheaper in Spain!

CJhaughey

Sarsfield wrote:

So far, we have drink, drugs, tobacco and red meat! So as a rule of thumb, if it will bring about your premature death, it's probably cheaper in Spain!

Ham is not red meat, Pork is white meat.
and who said that Serrano ham was bad for you and would bring about your untimely demise?

ozmo

gubby wrote:

hey thanks for the advice folks. btw. where is the best place to get an mp3 player? (cheapest)

ebay.
.com and .co.uk
From about 35 euro (128mb) to 100 euro (1G with radio) inc postage.
Make sure you check the postage - its usually more expensive than the mp3 player itself.

sceptre

smccarrick wrote:

Ahem- thats why there are a row of black bins immediately after passport control before baggage reclaim, and again after baggage reclaim- along with Department of Agriculture and Food officials milling around. There is a degree of trust involved- they are not going to rifle through people's luggage. Surely you don't want Asian Avian Flu or FMD to rear their ugly heads here (to say nothing about rabies and other nasties from people attempting to smuggle live animals- which does happen unfortunately. The last person who brought FMD in was hounded from the country remember...... (currently on the Isle of Man evading extradition)........

Advice such as you're giving is dangerous.......

Yeah, you're right. I didn't mean what I wrote as advice (rather as general comment, apart from the charm towards female passport checker I wouldn't have written any of it as advice) but given that it could be construed as such I've dumped most of the post.

And obviously I don't want Asian anything except electronics and people here:).

The_Conductor

sceptre wrote:

And obviously I don't want Asian anything except electronics and people here:).

Lol, yes, Asian women.....

Krusty_Clown

Rioja and Olive Oil... and of course Sherry, which comes from Jerez in the South of Spain.. Cars are a lot cheaper there too, but you might have trouble getting them through customs (buy some camouflage wrapping paper?!).

Sorry, still alcohol related (except for the Olive oil and the cars), but these are your best bets.. As per previous posters, avoid electronics unless travelling to Andorra.

blorg

Definitely foodstuffs; don't bother with the electronics, which are likely cheaper and less hassle online. Clothes are also very good value; Spanish chains such as Zara and Mango or brands such as Camper are generally about 33% cheaper in Spain (and Portugal) than in other EU countries.

I've brought back a leg of serrano before without any problems. Note that all the signs in the airport prohibit bringing meat or dairy products 'from outside the EU into the EU' rather than specifically into Ireland.

Quote from oasis.gov.ie:

It is possible to bring in meat or dairy products for personal consumption, subject to certain restrictions. If you are bringing in these products from the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA), you are allowed to bring in up to 10 kg of meat, milk and meat or milk products for personal consumption. Any of the products that you bring in should have an EU health mark on them.

Besides ham (which TBH can be quite difficult to carve at home) I would strongly recommend a few kilos of cheese (buy them in 1kg entire rounds and they will last pretty indefinitely until you open them – hard/curado tend to last longer) and of course wine. Cava is a good buy if you are going to Catalunya. Spirits are also _much_ cheaper in Spain than other EU countries and unlike most other countries Aldeasa (the airport duty free) is actually cheaper than the supermarkets for these (and of course is much more convenient). It's not bad for the wine either, similar or very slightly more than a supermarket cost-wise but the range will not be quite as good.

Chocolate is another good one, if you like the likes of Lindt (cheaper and _much_ better selection), as is Turrón if you like nougat.

The Corte Ingles is a good bet for the foodstuffs; it is certainly _not_ the cheapest supermarket but has a good selection, often good special offers and most importantly (for me at least) tends to have shops in the centre of the cities rather than further out in the suburbs.