Children in Bars
 

We will be travelling with a 13year old and her parents to Spain next spring. Will she be allowed in bars? By bars I mean drinking places where they serve tapas etc.

Thanks for your info.

Pat

Yes, tascas or tapas bars are often family affairs.

As noted, children in bars are the norm. Spain is very family friendly!

Obviously there may be some bars you don't want to take kids into. I've also noticed some Ceversarias which have moved on from just being a beer drinking place and become pleasant food eating places.

As noted, children are everywhere in Spain, and very much so in tapas bars.

Not that many "drinking places" in Spain, although now you can find more and more terrific cocktail bars, at least in the big cities. In Spain, drinking normally goes hand in hand with food together with friends or family.

Short answer, yes.
Think salad bar, sandwich bar, coffee bar, etc. that also serves drinks, or a bar that mainly serves drinks, but with snacks. There is a huge range of bars and Tapas bars in Spain, everything from a few tapas mainly with drinks to tons of tapas choices to little places where the owner and their family is there with one or two things they have made to serve. In general kids can go anywhere, just not be served alcohol if under age. Some places are standup. Some have tables. Go to one place. Have a drink and a tapas or two. Continue on to another place. The child will enjoy the whole experience.

Thank you all, this is the answer I was hoping for!

There are some tapas bars, where they throw the dirty napkins on the floor. A kid might like that. There are also a dying breed that write in chalk on the bar what each person has ordered. Kids might like that too.

I've even seen some in pubs -_-

13 years old in Europe is considered 'nearly' an adult as far as bars and restuarants are concerned.

Also depends how old the kid looks like.
When we got our last child, our eldest was 13. Some people thought she was my wife and the mother of her ... sister.

don't know what people have in their mind to think such things however, as my daughter could have passed for 17-19, but I certainly didn't look like I was under 40...

So that answer an unspoken question : the 'kid' can have beer or wine especially if parents order. No one will bat an eye.

I don't think you can say that 13 years olds are considered "nearly" an adult in bars and restaurants in Europe. Strict alcohol laws in most of Europe, 16 or 18 years to buy in shops, and restaurants will loose their licence if caught serving alcohol to minors. Of course practice varies between very different countries and within countries and cities, but in Spain infants, kids, children are with their parents, grandparents etc anywhere people are having some food and some glasses almost all around the clock. You very seldom see drunk Spaniards.

I too have rarely seen a drunk Spaniard. And I rarely see underage drinking in bars/restaurants in Spain, homes yes, bars, no.

I must have talked to some funny cops in Belgium and France who told me about any child who wants can get alcohol in bars.

In these 2 specific countries we might have strict laws but simply don't implement or overlook them. I can give you a long list of friends who have caught their children drunk in Belgium or France when they were minors. My daughter managed to get alcohol in bars since she was 13.

She also got vodka in a bar in Krakow on her 17th birthday.

And maybe the laws changed in Spain but I got a lot of beers before I was 18 there. Long ago though.

So, with parents around...

Those laws in Spain were lax years ago.

There is a huge difference between a 13 and 17 year old and Krakow and Sevilla.

The drinking age law in Spain is enforced. Breaking the law can cost the owner hundreds, if not thousands, of Euros. Of course they don't card everyone in bars, not even in small villages, not if you look old enough, but underage drinking in a restaurant would be a rareity.

And yes, you rarely see a drunk Spaniard, except maybe during fiesta, and they happen to be under the legal drinking age.

I don't know any Spaniard who would sit in a bar drinking and not have something to eat. Beside, most would be on there way to the next place after a glass of wine or a beer. It's part of the culture.