What amount would be adequate in Spain and how much should I leave if I pay by credit card?

American-style tipping is causing a great debate in Spain, both among customers and among hospitality workers themselves. This practice, which is beginning to be noticed in some restaurants and bars in the country, is not very popular among Spaniards: 90% of those who vote in the survey of this medium are opposed to the initiative. But, What is behind this technique, so widespread in other countries? What tip is appropriate to leave?

Some customers and employees comment to. 20minutes their opinion on the matter. Those in favor argue that they do not see the fact that establishments suggest a tipping percentage as a bad thing. as long as they do not demand to pay it; the most reluctant say that, in the end, the customer would be “paying the waiter’s salary”.

And it is precisely in places like the U.S. that tipping is part of the waiter’s salary. “In the Anglo-Saxon culture, it is very institutionalized, especially because tipping is constituted as a very substantial part of the salary of the workers,” he explains to this newspaper Juan Carlos Merino, professor at EAE Business School.

The expert stresses that in the U.S. it is normalized because waiters’ salaries are “very low and the mentality is different.” “Tipping is mandatory, they take it for granted, the restaurant itself demands it and it is inconceivable not to charge it.“He adds that, in addition, the customer knows that he has to pay it and does not usually put impediments.

However, the European culture is very different. “If it becomes widespread in Spain, many people, when they see the bill with a percentage tip, are going to feel rejection and will ask, ‘But why do I have to pay the worker’s salary?'” says Merino.

In the U.S. it is a mechanism that “saves the employer from paying more” and makes valuing the service the responsibility of the client. Therefore, Merino points out that, in the same way, if this practice were extended in Spain what it would do would be, in some way, “to supplant the employer’s own remuneration”, to which he warns that this should not be the case.

“Wages can in no case be supplanted by gratuity.because in the end it reduces the cost of the company and you would be leaving that part of the salary in the hands of a third party”, which, he insists, in Spain has the decision to pay it or not. Thus, he asserts that, instead of encouraging tipping, it should be “encouraged.dignify the restaurant sector moreto establish better working conditions and more competitive salaries.

How much of a tip is usually left?

“As of today, there is no legal obligation that establishes that a customer has to leave a tip, nor is there one that imposes a maximum or minimum amount to be paid,” says the EAE Business School professor. However, he points out that it is usually around between 5% and 10%. on the total amount of the account.

These figures are a far cry from the percentages typically charged in the U.S., where. a typical tip is around 20%. and even 25% if the service has been very gratifying. On the other hand, if one chooses to leave 10% or less, as in Spain, the establishment may consider it an offense or as if the treatment has been catastrophic, with the corresponding consequences for the employee.

On the other hand, Merino recalls that if a Spanish restaurant were to include the tip in the bill in the same way as the U.S., i.e., without giving the option to refuse it, the customer in this case would have the right to refuse, since they cannot demand it: “Neither the law, nor the agreements nor the sector’s agreements with employers and unions contain anything related to tips”.

In this sense, he points out that the casino sector does regulate what this extra income is, through the “tip trunk”: the gaming hall itself has established procedures for the distribution of tips, which are considered company income and are usually allocated in part to the payment of staff salaries and social security contributions, among others.

Tipping with a card, a good idea?

The Spanish tipping custom has never been very significant and, moreover, it is becoming less and less widespread. “It was already customary to leave a small amount and always in cash.but now it is less frequent due to the widespread use of cards,” says Juan Carlos Merino.

“Even, sometimes, when the customer wants to leave a tip with a card, the waiter tells him that it is better not to do so, because at the end of the day he will not receive that money.“, he adds, explaining the difficulty of registering and tracking the money collected through the dataphone.

When tipping by card, workers do not receive it directly and immediately, as when it goes into the ‘pot,’ but rather it goes to the company’s account. Therefore, it may happen that, in the end, the information on what percentage of the revenue obtained is gratuity is lost.

Generally, if at the time of tallying up the day’s transactions there is a surplus result, i.e., there is more money than there should be, that difference would be considered as profit, so that It may not end up being earmarked as a tip.