Spain postage costs rise

THE cost of postage within Spain has now increased from 45c to 48c for a postcard or standard letter, and other charges including overseas post and parcels will also increase.

Although the sale of stamps to collectors still generates significant income for the Post Office, it is more usual to receive a label when paying for postage, particularly for parcels rather than stamps, and to the disappointment of collectors many of the new stamps are self-adhesive, which use a poorer standard of printing and are difficult to house in albums.

Spain is still cheaper than most of Europe with Italy, the UK, France and Germany being the four most expensive countries in which to send an internal letter.

However, generally speaking letters in the UK do arrive when they are supposed to and are delivered to the door rather than shared mailboxes as happens in many urbanisations in Spain.