Gifts from Madrid

Beer mats.

And what, pray tell, is a beer mat (this middle-aged mother of two 20-something young men wants to know).

We get little cans of excellent Spanish paprika (pimenton) and small quantities of saffron at the gourmet shop in El Corte Ingles to give as gifts. These are compact and easynto carry, and good cooks really appreciate either one.

Assortments of their excellent cheeses and heavenly hams.

Oh, coasters. Thanks Monte. Great idea. We have some from pubs around here, and I pick up cool ones on the road. And the cooking/food choices look like good bets. Thanks for your input, Lola and Bob.

Olive oil.

Jamon, jamon and more jamon! Outside of that, much depends on whom you buying for. When we went, we bought traditional Spanish fans for my aunts. They are everywhere, range in price and are very beautiful. We bought Real Madrid items for my male cousins. You can get a shirt for 90 euro or a small postcard with a photo of the team for 55 cents. A really big (budget) hit was postcards of the various sites in Madrid: night shots, festival shots, etc... Happy shopping!

Before you stock up on jamon or cheeses to bring home, read the US customs regulations: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/82/session/L3NpZC84Vm1XamxTaw%3D%3D/search/1 Most cured meats are forbidden. It may depend on packaging, but the website is pretty vague. It you do choose to bring some back, be sure to them and show them to the agent. I've seen people be very embarassed when the dog sniffed their bags and revealed their hidden stash of prosciutto. Olive oil is fine, but not if you do carry-on luggage. When we want to bring back olive oil (from Italy or Spain), we check our bags on the way home, although we carried on going to Europe. The spices I mentioned are admitted with no problem. We also brought back tinned piquillo peppers and tinned sardines in our carry-on with no problem (meaning they weren't treated as liquids or gels).