Sending/Receiving Mail and Packages in Spain
Posted by The Expatriator
Information on sending packages and mail home, particularly to the USA and Canada. Shares the generally negative experiences with the postal service in Spain and how to avoid these problems in the future.
Remember that stores with the big brown-and-yellow “tabaco” signs are estancos, and all estancos sell stamps (same price as the post office). Los Correos is the name for the Spanish mail system.
USA: Mail from the USA generally takes about 7-10 days (although recently I received a package after only 4 days). For express delivery from the USA, don’t use FedEx. They don’t have offices here, so they pass it on to MRW, who can take 3 days just within Spain! Using the regular post office’s Priority/Express mail is cheaper and faster. Another alternative is UPS (phone: 900 10 24 10)—they got a document from Sevilla to Manhattan (door-to-door) in 23 hours.
Canada: I’ve had few packages sent without problems. Customs have held packages for weeks, sometimes threatening to send it home or destroy it, only to complete the delivery later anyway. One of the packages sent to me was returned to the sender, utterly shredded and destroyed having fallen victim to customs’ curiousity over one package of gummy bears. The contents were worth hundreds of dollars and there was ultimately no compensation.
carmenes said:
If you want to send letters to the UK, why not use Viapost (http://www.viapost.com). You send the letter directly from your computer, complete by-passing the Spanish postal system, and it will be delivered in 3 working days by Royal Mail.
I have sent 3 test letters and all arrived successfully. Currently only works for sending to the UK, but I think they have plans to expand to the US, etc.
Carmenes