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Tipping, Taxes and Open Bar in Spain: Put Your Wallet Away, You’re Over-Tipping

If you’re from the US or another heavy-tipping country, your brain is probably running this script:

“Should we tip 15%? 20%? Do we add tax on top? Is service included? Are we bad people if we don’t leave a huge envelope to everyone?”

Spain is not built on 20% tips and surprise taxes.

If the timeline was culture shock level 1, money & tipping in Spain is culture shock level 2… but in a good way.

IVA: the tax that’s already there

In many countries, you see one price, and then they add tax on top.
Fun surprise at the end.

In Spain, most of the time:

• Prices are shown with IVA included.

• IVA is the value-added tax (basically, sales tax).

• The number you see is the number you pay.

So when you get a catering or venue quote with:

• Food

• Drinks

• Service

…plus IVA at the bottom, that’s it.
There’s no “+ 18% service fee + some mysterious line you don’t understand”.

For your Spanish wedding budgets, you can tell your brain:

“If IVA is there, we’re seeing the real total, not the ‘oh surprise’ total.”

Tipping in Spain: you’re probably overdoing it

Let’s kill a myth:

Spain does not run on mandatory 20% tips.

In everyday life:

• Locals might leave small coins in a café.

• Maybe a few euros in a restaurant if service was great.

• Sometimes nothing. And nobody screams.

For weddings:

• Staff are paid a salary, not living off tips.

• A tip is a nice extra, not a moral obligation.

You can tip, of course.
But you don’t have to calculate 15–20% of your entire wedding cost and hand it out like it’s New Year’s Eve in Vegas.

A simple, generous but sane guideline:

• If service was amazing and you want to say gracias:

  • A reasonable envelope for the planner / main contact

  • Maybe something extra for the team if you really feel it

But again: you won’t be the bad guy if you don’t tip like at home.

Teach your guests a magic phrase:

• “Gracias” (GRA-syas) – Thank you

• “Gracias por todo” (GRA-syas por TO-do) – Thank you for everything

In Spain, that plus a smile already goes a long way.

Open Bar: not pay-per-drink, but flat-fee freedom

Here’s where your brain will be very happy.

In many US venues:

• You pay per drink

• Or per hour

• Or it’s a confusing mix of both

• And you spend half your time wondering if Uncle Bob’s 7th whiskey is blowing the budget.

In Spain, most wedding venues and caterers work like this:

• You pay a fixed price per person for X hours of open bar.

• Often it’s something like:

  • 3 hours of open bar

  • Option to add extra hours at a clear rate

You know the cost before the wedding.
No one comes with a long list of every gin and tonic consumed.

Think of it as:

“We’re not counting drinks. We’re buying peace of mind.”

You can literally tell your guests:

“Once we hit open bar, just say ‘una copa más’ (OO-na CO-pa mas) – one more drink – and enjoy. No one’s doing math.”

Who do you actually tip in a Spanish wedding?

If you want to tip (because you’re happy, emotional and full of cava), here’s a simple structure:

• Wedding planner / coordinator

  • They’re your main ally. If they saved your life 20 times, an envelope is a nice “te amo” for adults.

• Venue / catering manager

  • If service was outstanding, you can give something to the person in charge for the team.

But again, it’s not mandatory.
Your planner will be honest with you about what’s normal in that specific area.

You don’t need to tip:

• Every single waiter

• The priest

• The DJ per song

• The bartender per cocktail

You already paid for the service.
Tips are extra gratitude, not rent.

Explaining this to your guests so they don’t go full 20% mode

Your guests might arrive in Spain ready to:

• Tip every taxi

• Over-tip every drink

• Throw money at anything that moves because “it’s Europe, we don’t want to be rude.”

Help them out.

In your wedding website / welcome pack, add a simple section:
“Money & Tips in Spain (So You Don’t Overdo It)”

Bullet points like:

• VAT (called “IVA”) is already included in prices.

• No need to leave 20% tips everywhere.

• Rounding up the bill or leaving a few euros is more than enough when they feel like it.

• Good service here doesn’t wait for a tip to appear.

Teach them two phrases:

• “La cuenta, por favor” (la KWEN-ta por fa-BOR) – The bill, please.

• “Todo perfecto, gracias” (TO-do per-FEK-to GRA-syas) – Everything was perfect, thank you.

That plus a smile? You’re golden.

Your Spanish wedding budget: less fear, more fun

When you understand tipping in Spain, IVA and open bar, something magical happens:

• Your budget stops feeling like a bomb about to explode.

• You can choose upgrades because you want them, not because you’re afraid of hidden costs.

• Your guests enjoy themselves without doing mental math every time they order a drink.

You didn’t come to Spain to spend your emotional energy on spreadsheets.
You came here to say “te amo” (teh AH-mo) under the sun, eat churros con chocolate (CHOO-ros con cho-co-LAH-teh) the morning after, and tell the story for years.

So yes:

Put your wallet away.
You’re probably over-tipping.

Spain has other ways to say “I love you” to the people who make your wedding special:
time, attention, a real “gracias por todo”… and maybe a slice of cake and a drink at 4 AM.