Now a days the currency of Spain, along with another seventeen countries in Europe, is the Euro. This currency started to be used in 2002 in the so-called Eurozone, the economic and monetary union of eighteen Europe countries, The Eurozone comprises Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
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Euro coins and bills
Euro coins are 2 and 1 euros, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents. Netherlands and Finland has stop using the 2 and 1 cents coins alleging practical reason. All circulating coins have a common side showing the value and a Europe map. On the other side each country has its own design. Despite the different design all Eurozone coins are usable in every country.
Euro bills or banknotes are issued in 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 euros. Bills have a standards design used in the whole economical union. Each one has its own color and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture.
Euro name and symbol
A special euro currency sign (€) was designed by the Belgian Alain Billiet. It is the first letter of the word Euro, also Europe. It has a clear Greek influence regarding the origins of the continent and it monetary system itself.
The name was a really complicated decision. At the beginning the first European Union currency was called ECU, which stands for European Currency Unit, but in 1995 was changed to Euro. The name was suggested by Germain Pirlot a Esperantist –a person who speaks Esperanto- hoping to find in this international language a named accepted by all European nations.
¿What was the currency of Spain before euro?
Pesetas was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002. The peseta was introduced in 1869 after Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1868. It was replaced by the euro in 2002. The change at the moment was 1 euro = 166.386 pesetas.
Spain currency converter
Now a days, the Euro is a very strong currency. The high price of the Euro has affected European exports and tourism in the past five years. In 2014 the exchange rate average is 1.36 USD per 1€, 0.81 GBP per 1€, 1.49 AUD per 1€ and, 1.5 CAD per 1€.
Currency in Madrid and Barcelona
Despite the fact the Catalonia is trying to become an independent nation, it still using the same currency. There is not any parallel currency in Spain, even Andorra and Montenegro two countries outside Eurozone use Euro as their currency. Besides, being the official currency for the most of the European countries, the Euro is easily accepted in the other European countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Great Britain).
Spanish Economical Vocabulary
Now that you know the currency you should have some vocabulary to help you getting around with it!
Cuanto cuesta (esto/eso)? – How much is (this/that)?
Monedas – Coins
Billetes – Bills / notebanks
Banco – Bank
Casa de Cambio – Exchange Office
Spain Currency Exchange
After the Euro establishment in 2002 many foreign exchange office closed. Don’t worry! If you are traveling with another currency Spanish banks also exchange money with a fare rate.
