Cash or Credit Cards?

Times are a changing all over. Italy now has adopted contactless payment to a great extent, even for small purchases, to the extent that on a trip there in September 2021, we only used cash in one restaurant in 3 weeks.

We have not been to Spain since before the Pandemic, but even then, credit was gladly accepted in most every restaurant that I recall, especially in cities.

One trips all over Europe in the past 20+ years, each time I use less and less cash. In Italy last, I probably would not have used the 200 euro I started with, except toward the end, I deliberately used cash to get it down to 50 euro or so.

Check to see if your credit cards are contactless, if not, talk to the issuer, that will come in handy (avoids having a slip for you to sign spit out). Most major cards in the US have went to contactless capability.

We were recently in Spain and used credit cards for everything 2Euro and over. Contactless payments! We were in Barcelona but did not use the ATMs because we didn't need any physical money.

In Nov 2019, we had no problem using credit cards just about everywhere in Spain.

ATMs are generally safe. Many banks will have a lobby for the ATMs with a secured door. You unlock the door with your card. Once inside you will have several terminals to choose from. Even if the ATM is outside, we have never encountered any problems. We always use an ATM attached to a bank (no standalone machines) and I prefer to use a terminal just after someone else has used it. If it worked for them it should work for me. If it is an outdoor ATM I will look at it a little more closely to see if everything appears to be normal. I will cover the key with my other hand to just to shield my pin number. There are reports --- I have never see it --- of hidden cameras being attached to or near an ATM to record your card and pin numbers. AND -- be prepared for the ATM not to work. We generally find, maybe 1 in 10, that for some reason the ATM simply doesn't work. First time it happened, it cause a real panic. Now we know to just walk on to the next ATM and it will work. BUT -- we still three ATM cards tied to two independent accounts.

Not just credit cards- contactless payment. Not just accepted, but the expected norm. Check your cards for the horizontal wifi symbol, and if they don't have it, call your bank for replacements.

I spent 11 days in Madrid in May and used cash ONCE. And that was to break a large bill, just in case I needed the smaller notes. And that large bill was leftover Euro after having spent the whole month of January in Gran Canaria, and not going through the cash I got at the ATM when I first arrived.

A tip: ¿Queres copia? At the end of every card transaction, you'll be asked if you want a copy of the slip, as a receipt. The question is mostly a formality, and "No, gracias." is almost always the expected answer.

A bigger challenge, in my experience (as recently as 2019) is the prevalence of ATMs charging fees. Three years ago I was able to find ATMs without fees, but I don't know what the situation is like as of now.

Both worked fine in 2019, but as Scudder said, contactless has taken off. I will add that contactless use may not be as widespread in small towns away from the major tourist destinations.

We’ve been in France fort he last 3 weeks. I have used my card almost exclusively. Accepted everywhere without question. Used for purchases large and small. As little as 1€ I occasionally use cash to keep in practice Same story in Spain last October. The contactless card is soo easy.
brad

Definitively ccards, especially, as mentioned above, contactless is king. And this is true everywhere, urban or rural.

Note, however, two things (1) American Express is not widely accepted here, nor in many parts of Europe for that matter. Despite their claims in their commercials, it's more a "local" card to the US than anything else and most businesses elsewhere do not accept this card. And (2), in the very recent past -I'm talking a 4-5 years ago- some cards issued in the US, especially by smaller banks/coops, were not up-to-standard to European security measures (Pin&Chip, etc...) and sometimes visitors from the US had problems using them here. I believe this is now no longer the case as it's supposed to be a standard in the US too, but double-check with your bank.

As per mobile payments (ApplePay and the lot), in Spain is not really 'a thing' as it doesn't provide any further benefit over existing payment methods (ie contactless). Yet, ApplePay, for example, which if I am not mistaken is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank and is on the Mastercard network, can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted as the terminals are compatible with contactless. But again, I'm not 100% sure, maybe someone else can shed more light on this.

For info, all taxis (at least in Catalonia) do accept ccards.

To add to what acraven said, we had to look hard to find an atm that didn’t also do dcc. In case you ‘re not familiar with that, it is dynamic currency conversion. Your checking account gets charged in USD immediately. The Spanish bank gets to set the exchange rate. Not surprisingly it’s very skewed in their favor. We found that more than anywhere else, hotels, restaurants, etc. in Spain tried to foist dcc on us. Even when they asked if we wanted to be charged in dollars, and we said no, they did it anyway. I got very tough and made a couple of clerks redo the bills. I finally adopted the strategy of firmly, but politely saying, “Charge in euro, please; or I will need you to rewrite the bill.”

What great info. Thanks, everyone.
It was very helpful to know about taxis not all taking cards, not converting to dollars, etc.

I feel more ready thanks to you!

adding to Enric's comments:
amex not accepted in many places. ApplePay worked fantastic for me. (have a visa card linked to apple pay). Used apple Watch (!!) to make contactless payments at ALL places. it was amazing.