Euros and dollars
| Euros | In US dollars | US dollars | In euros |
|---|
At €1 = US$1.12, a quick rule is to add about an eighth to any price in euros: €25 is about $28, and €100 is about $112. Prices on shelves, menus and price tags already include VAT (IVA: 21 percent on most goods, 10 percent on restaurant meals and hotels), so what you see is what you pay, and service is included. The one common extra is the tourist tax at your lodging in Barcelona, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. A euro is 100 cents (céntimos). When a card machine or ATM offers to charge you in dollars, choose euros. See money, cards and tipping.
Temperature
| °C | °F | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| 10°C | 50°F | A typical January high in Madrid: sunny, crisp, with frosty nights. |
| 19°C | 66°F | An October high in Madrid. A light jacket for the evening. |
| 21°C | 70°F | A January high on the coast of the Canary Islands: winter sun. |
| 24°C | 75°F | A warm spring day in Madrid in late May. |
| 32°C | 90°F | A typical July high in Madrid. Dry heat, cooler at night. |
| 36°C | 96°F | An average summer high in Seville and Córdoba. |
| 40°C | 104°F | A heat-wave day inland in Andalusia, Extremadura or around Madrid. |
| 38.5°C | 101.3°F | A fever, if a pharmacist or a doctor asks. |
| 180°C | 356°F | A moderate oven, if you're cooking in a rental apartment. |
Spanish forecasts, pharmacy signs and car dashboards give temperatures in Celsius. Spain's climates differ more than most visitors expect: the Meseta around Madrid has cold winters and hot, dry summers, Andalusia is mild in winter and very hot in July and August, the green north stays cooler and wetter all year, and the Canaries are spring-like in every season. See when to go for weather by region.
Distance, speed and weight
| Speed sign | In mph | Where you'll see it |
|---|---|---|
| 30 km/h | 19 mph | Most city streets with one lane each way |
| 50 km/h | 31 mph | Town and city streets with two or more lanes each way |
| 90 km/h | 56 mph | Ordinary roads outside towns |
| 120 km/h | 75 mph | The autopista and autovía (motorways), most of them toll-free now |
Everything on Spanish roads is metric: a sign reading 50 means 50 km/h, about 31 mph, and the rental car's speedometer shows km/h. To convert in your head, multiply kilometers by six and drop the last digit: 80 km is about 48 miles (the exact figure is 49.7). Speed cameras are common, there is no right turn on red, and the blood alcohol limit is 0.05%, stricter than the US 0.08% (0.03% for drivers licensed less than two years). See driving in Spain.
Different from home
Spain weighs everything in kilograms and grams, and height is given in centimeters. At a market stall or a ham counter, you order by weight: cien gramos (100 grams, about 3.5 oz) of jamón is a generous tasting portion for two, and un cuarto is a quarter kilo, a little over half a pound. Prices on fruit, cheese and cured meat are usually per kilo (about 2.2 lb).
Fuel and liters
The fuel price uses the rate from the currency converter above. A US gallon is 3.785 liters.
| You'll see | Size | In US terms |
|---|---|---|
| A caña (small draft beer) | About 200 ml | About 7 US fl oz, a little under a cup |
| A copa (glass) of wine | About 150 ml | About 5 US fl oz |
| A bottle of wine | 750 ml | About 25 US fl oz, the same bottle as at home |
| A large bottle of water | 1.5 liters | About 51 US fl oz, a little over 1.5 US quarts |
| A full tank in a compact car | 40–50 liters | About 10.5–13 US gallons |
Fuel is sold by the liter and costs more than at home, though less than in France or Italy. On October 10, 2026, the national average was about €1.78 a liter for 95 gasoline (about $7.55 a US gallon) and €1.89 a liter for diesel (about $8 a US gallon), based on the Ministry for the Ecological Transition's station data; motorway stations charge more. Gasolina is gasoline (95 is the standard grade, sin plomo means unleaded) and gasóleo or diésel is diesel: check the label on your rental car's fuel cap before you fill up. At many self-service stations you pay at the cashier before you pump. See driving in Spain.
Clothing and shoe sizes
Spanish shops label clothes in European sizes, the same numbers used in France, and shoes in European (EU) sizes. The tables below follow the conversions most retailers use, but sizing varies by brand and cut, and Spanish chains often run small, so check the store's own chart or try things on. The Spanish word for a clothing size is talla; for shoes it is número.
| Women's clothing, US | Spain and most of the EU (ES) | Italy (IT), for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 32 | 36 |
| 2 | 34 | 38 |
| 4 | 36 | 40 |
| 6 | 38 | 42 |
| 8 | 40 | 44 |
| 10 | 42 | 46 |
| 12 | 44 | 48 |
| 14 | 46 | 50 |
| Men's suits and jackets, US | EU | Men's shirt collar, US | EU (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 46 | 14.5 in | 37 |
| 38 | 48 | 15 in | 38 |
| 40 | 50 | 15.5 in | 39 |
| 42 | 52 | 16 in | 41 |
| 44 | 54 | 16.5 in | 42 |
| 46 | 56 | 17 in | 43 |
| Women's shoes, US | EU | Men's shoes, US | EU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 36–37 | 8 | 41 |
| 7 | 37–38 | 9 | 42–42.5 |
| 8 | 38–39 | 10 | 43–44 |
| 9 | 39–40 | 11 | 44.5–45 |
| 10 | 40–41 | 12 | 46 |
The short rules: for women's clothing, add 32 to your US size (a US 8 is a Spanish 40); for men's suits and jackets, add 10 to your US chest size (a US 40 is an EU 50). Shirts are sold by collar size in centimeters. Shoe sizes are the same across the EU, but brands differ by half a size or more, so try on alpargatas (espadrilles) and leather shoes before you buy. Children's clothes are usually sized by age or by height in centimeters. Shopping phrases are in our Spanish for travelers guide.
Time zones and calling home
Uses today's offsets. Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla keep Central European Time (GMT+1) in winter and summer time (GMT+2) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. The Canary Islands are one hour behind, on the same time as London and Lisbon.
Watch out
Europe and the US change their clocks on different dates, so for a few weeks a year the usual gap shrinks by an hour. Spain moves its clocks on the last Sunday of March and of October; the US moves on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November. New York is normally six hours behind Madrid, but only five from October 25 to 31, 2026, from March 14 to 27, 2027, and from October 31 to November 6, 2027. Check ticket release times, tour pickups and flight connections in those weeks, and remember the extra hour if you fly on to the Canaries. Hawaii doesn't change its clocks, so its gap to Madrid changes twice a year.
To call a US number from a Spanish phone, dial 00 1 or +1, then the area code and number. Spain's country code is +34, and Spanish numbers have nine digits with no leading zero to drop: landlines start with 9 (91 is Madrid, 93 Barcelona) and mobiles with 6 or 7. The emergency number is 112, free from any phone, with English-speaking operators. US carrier day passes and eSIMs are covered in phones, plugs and apps.
Plugs and voltage
Spain runs on 230 volts at 50 Hz, about twice the US voltage. Sockets take the round two-pin European plugs: Type C (thin pins, no grounding) and Type F (the "Schuko", with grounding clips on the sides). A simple Type C adapter fits both, so pack two or three; a grounded Type F adapter is better for laptops with three-prong plugs. Phone, tablet, camera and laptop chargers marked 100–240 V need only an adapter, not a converter. US hair dryers, curling irons and flat irons made for 120 V will burn out or catch fire. More in phones, plugs and apps.
Dates, numbers and floors
| You'll see | It means |
|---|---|
| 07/04/2027 | April 7, 2027. Spain writes the day first, so 07/04 is never July 4. |
| 21:30 | 9:30 p.m. Train timetables, ticket slots and restaurant bookings use the 24-hour clock, and 21:30 is a normal dinner time. |
| €12,50 | Twelve euros fifty. Spain uses a comma where Americans use a decimal point. |
| €1.250 | One thousand two hundred fifty euros. The period separates thousands. |
| 0, B or PB in the elevator | The ground floor (planta baja). The primera planta (first floor) is what Americans call the second floor, and many old buildings add an entresuelo or principal in between. |
| 1º 2ª in an address | Floor 1, door 2: Calle Mayor 10, 1º 2ª is the second door on the first floor up. |
| s/n | Sin número: the building has no street number. |
| 10–14, 17–20:30 | Typical small-shop hours: open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed in the afternoon, open again 5 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Horario continuo | Open all day, with no midday break. |