Page 226 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

224  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

SHOPPING IN

NORTHERN SPAIN

Spain has a thriving shopping culture, with good value for money. Food products,
many unique, family-run boutiques as well especially fish and seafood, are best
as a few reliable chain stores and big bought at markets, where the quality
department stores. Staff are usually friendly is higher than in shops. Cider and wine
and patient, and there is a vast selection of are popular purchases with visitors to
goods on offer. In the main shopping areas Northern Spain. Also popular are religious
you’ll find designer boutiques with high-end souvenirs connected with the pilgrimage
merchandise, though many offer seasonal route of St James, as well as local crafts
discounts. Spanish shoes and clothes are including wicker baskets, hand-made
elegant and, compared to France or Italy, lace and clogs.

Credit cards are widely your stay in Northern Spain
accepted, but cheques you can collect receipts for
are not. purchases made from the same
shop and then ask the sales
assistant for one tax-free invoice
VAT at the end, detailing your
Value added tax (VAT), transactions. You’ll need to
known as IVA in Spanish, show your passport to receive
is included in the price a form. You must have the VAT
of nearly everything in refund form stamped at a
A wide array of nuts for sale Spain. Look for the words Spanish customs office. Present
IVA incluido or con IVA the stamped form at a Spanish
Opening Hours
(VAT included) and sin IVA bank at the airport for a same-
Supermarkets, hypermarkets (VAT not included) to see if day refund, or mail it for the
and department stores are tax is included on your hotel refund to be credited to your
usually open from 10am to 9 or restaurant bill. credit card.
or 10pm (also on Saturdays), Rates vary, depending on
and in larger cities they are the type of purchase. For some
sometimes open even longer. basics, such as children’s clothes, Sales
Most small shops in Northern it’s 4 per cent. For most services, Spain’s twice-annual rebajas
Spain open Monday to Saturday including restaurant and (sales) are a fantastic opportunity
from 10am to 8 or 9pm, but they hotel bills, it’s 10 per cent. to find good deals on everything
close for a long lunch break from For everything else, including from shoes and clothes to linens,
2 to 4:30 or 5pm. Service-related most clothing and luxury and electronics and houseshold
shops such as dry cleaners gift items, it’s 21 per cent. goods. Some stores offer a
usually open an hour earlier and Non-EU residents are eligible reduction of 50 per cent or more.
close an hour later. Bakeries for a VAT refund if purchases The first rebajas of the year
open at 7:30 or 8am. exceed €91 worth of goods. begin on 7 January (the day after
Traditionally, the only These do not have to be one-off Epiphany) and continue until
shops open on Sundays and purchases. For example, during mid-February. Summer rebajas
holidays have been bakeries,
pastelerías and newsstands, and
most other small shops still
close on Sundays, except in the
run-up to Christmas. However,
larger stores are allowed to
open on a few Sundays each
year, and a growing number of
shops are open in resort towns.

Payment Methods
Cash is quicker to use for
small purchases, and may be
preferred in some small shops. Colourful stalls on the promenade in Oviedo

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