Page 325 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

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individual emergency services. providing a booking service for Visa and Mastercard
For emergency medical treat­ accessible hotels. are accepted in most places.
ment, call 112 for an ambulance,
or go to the nearest hospital Language and Etiquette Communications
emergency room (urgencias).
The Spanish commonly greet Several service­providers in
and say goodbye to strangers at Spain, including Movistar,
Health Issues
bus stops and in stores and Vodafone, Orange, and Yoigo,
Spanish pharmacists have wide other public places. People offer mobile and internet
responsibilities. They can advise shake hands or kiss each other services. You can buy SIMs or
and, in certain cases, prescribe on the cheek when introduced purchase pay­as­you­go
without consulting a doctor and whenever they meet. In mobiles at El Corte Inglés stores,
(antibiotics not included). In a Catalonia and the Basque branches of the Phone House,
non­emergency, a farmaceútico country, regional languages at their own shops, or online.
is a good person to see first. are as much in use as the Airports, most hotels, and
It is usually easy to find one national tongue, which is several cafés and bars offer free
who speaks English. Castilian Spanish. or inexpensive Wi­Fi for those
The pharmacy (farmacia) sign traveling with their own devices.
is a green or red illuminated There are very few phone boxes,
cross. Those open at night are Banking and Currency but you can make inexpensive
listed in the windows of all the The Spanish unit of currency international phone calls from
local pharmacies. is the euro (see p23). Generally, public telephone offices, which
banks are open from 8am to are called locutorios and usually
2pm Monday to Friday. Some found near train stations.
Facilities for the Disabled branches are also open on The Spanish postal service,
The Spanish National Tourist Thursday afternoon. Some Correos, provides an efficient
Office has a number of useful have a foreign exchange desk service, and there are also
publications in English for with the sign Cambio or courier firms for urgent
disabled travelers, many of Extranjero. Take some form communications. The main
which are down loadable from of ID when changing money. Correos offices open from
their website. Most city tourist Bureaux de change charge 8:30am to 8:30pm Monday to
websites also offer a range of higher rates of commission, Friday and from 9am to 2pm
useful materials for disabled but are open longer hours. Saturday. Conveniently, you will
travelers. Viajes Ilunion offers The best rate is to be found find that stamps for letters and
accessible vacations in by withdrawing cash from postcards can also be bought
Spain and abroad, as well as an ATM or paying by credit card. from an estanco.
DIRECTORY
Spanish National Tourist Offices Floor, 28046 Madrid. Police
Tourist Offices in Spain Tel 91­353 66 00. Tel 112.
Abroad
Barcelona Canada Ambulance
Canada Plaça de Catalunya 17–S, Torre Espacio, Paseo Tel 112.
2 Bloor West, 08002 Barcelona. de la Castellana 259D,
28046 Madrid.
Suite 3402, Toronto, Tel 93­285 38 34. Tel 91­382 84 00. Fire Brigade
ON, M4W 3E2. Madrid UK (Bomberos)
Tel 416­961 31 31. Plaza Mayor 27, 28012 Torre Espacio, Paseo Tel 112.
UK Madrid. Tel 91­454 44 10. de la Castellana 259D, Facilities for the
∑ esmadrid.com 28046 Madrid.
64 North Row, Tel 91­714 63 00. Disabled
London W1K 7DE. Seville
Tel 020­7317 2011. Avenida de la US Spanish National
Constitución 21b, Calle Serrano 75,
∑ spain.info 28006 Madrid. Tourist Office
41004 Seville. ∑ spain.info/en/
US Tel 95­478 75 78. Tel 91­587 22 00. informacion-practica/
60 East 42nd St, Emergency turismo-accesible
Suite 5300 (53rd floor), Embassies Numbers
New York, NY 10165­0039. Australia Viajes Ilunion
Emergency:
Tel 212­265 8822. Torre Espacio, Paseo de All Services Tel 90­220 00 11.
∑ spain.info la Castellana 259D, 24th Tel 112 (most large cities). ∑ viajes.ilunion.com

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