La Propina y el Pícaro

 Tipping in Spain.

I once saw a couple leave an entire euro as a tip after a drink on a terrace cafe on Calle Betis in Triana*. As you may have experienced yourself, the Spanish waiter tries to avoid contact with customers as much as possible, so after giving the couple their change, he vamoosed. The coin sat there for awhile, catching the light of a passing booze cruise on the Guadalquivir and the twinkle of the fairy lights in the orange trees.

Meanwhile a classic Sevilla pícaro** shambling along the river spotted the solitary euro on an unoccupied table.

"Coño! Tengo para una caña," he said, not quite believing his good fortune. He slipped the euro into his pocket and continued down the street (now at a considerably more jaunty pace) toward Plaza de Cuba.

I felt a bit bad for the waiter, who missed out on a euro tip. However, considering he didn’t come back outside to the terrace for another 45 min, I suppose he did not care much either way.

*The illustrious location that is the background image on this blog

**Picture the character played by Eduardo Gómez on Aquí no hay quien viva, the television show that taught me both the vosotros form and the pitfalls of serving as presidente de la comunidad de vecinos (HOA).