DebitNM's link should help.

Another option - something made by the Shakers or Amish.

If you really want to get them Hershey kisses, then go ahead. I don't like Swiss or Belgium chocolate. I actually don't like chocolate much at all but will on occasion eat a Twix or a Reese's peanut butter cup and I also don't care for peanut butter. Everyone has different tastes or likes. When I visited my Lithuanian pen pal this past Nov, I took some Hershey chocolate, Twizzlers and Peanut Chews. I had given Twizzlers before and it was taken from me before I could hand it over. I wouldn't go overboard but give what you want, after all I am sure they will like whatever you get as it's coming from you.

There's nothing wrong with Hershey Chocolate.

I don't know too many people who would turn down ANY KIND of chocolate.

I am also sure that many of the food snobs here are wolfing down KFC as they type.

Thin, hates snobs

We have brought gifts to Spain many times and Hershey's is not want they want. We usually bring inexpensive handmade jewelery for the women or something that is made in locally or the US. Our male cousins do like Native American this or that. With the globalization of industry and the Internet it is harder to give a gift that is not available in any European country.

I do not recall widespread availability of expensive chocolate in Spain, so google Cortes Ingles and see what they offer. They are a department store chain in major Spanish Cities. Use the site for Spanish stores and type in chocolate, it is spelled the same way as English but pronounced differently. I also would not bring anything that would not withstand the vagaries of travel including temperature changes and the abuse of luggage.

If you still want to bring candy then how about a box of Frango mints from Macy's with the Chicago skyline on the box?
I go overseas every week for work and bring treats for the hotel staff and they love stuff from Trader Joes too! Ironically,they always request Nutter Butter cookies-go figure?

Nothing snobbish about not liking Hershey. To me it has a musty taste.

Thank you all, it looks like good ideas never stop. I will probably pick two ideas out of your recommendations.

I would think a Boycott of all things Hershey is called for after what they have done to Cadbury Creme Eggs and since they are not allowing British Cadbury chocolate to be sold in the grey market in the US. Terrible company and a big bully.

kja--what is a dreamcatcher?

I would not get a dream catcher for anyone over the age of 13 in any country.

I like Hershey bars but ... Best to treat them to lunch or dinner.

Hershey is one of the reasons that some Brits wish Colombus had stayed put in The Bahamas, leaving continental North America "undiscovered".

If you really dislike these people, take them $30 of Hershey, they will get the message.

Jelly Belly beans are always a big hit,especially when I explain how the flavors change when you mix 2 of them.The flat rectangular box fits nicely in my suitcase so I take three of them when I visit my friends.

Why not some Wrigley chewing gum sticks, a few loose Lucky Strikes and a Hershey bar?

<<Wow, I did not know many people do not like Hersheys>>

Really? Hershey developed its chocolate with a sour taste specifically to distinguish itself from European chocolates. That taste is often anathema to the European palate. And considering the popularity of products from M&M/Mars and Nestle (and Reese's, which is a Hershey subsidiary but has a different chocolate recipe), there are plenty of mass-produced options.

The current iterations of many (if not all) Hershey candies do not use cocoa butter, so they're not "chocolates" under FDA definitions.

Just like "American beer" is linked to Budweiser in the European conception, and not positively, Hershey's chocolate is "American chocolate." Of course, both conceptualizations are provably false - the number of beers produced in the US that are superior to European beers is nearly impossible to quantify due to the microbrewer explosion in this country; the varieties of chocolate that are equal to or better than European chocolate are also hard to quantify.

A dreamcatcher, to anyone who is not part of a Native American culture that uses them, is a small knick knack. They are described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher. If they are not used by the Shawnee, Miami, namesake Illini or other tribes whose heritage ties them to Illinois, then a dreamcatcher would be a curio of minimal to no worth to the recipient.

If you are going to get them Hershey bars, why not also get them nylons and a black market ration coupons.

I like the suggestion from dutyfree: Frango mints from Macy's with Chicago skyline box.

Most towns and cities have small artisanal chocolate shops; I've sometimes got these are gifts for the folks back home in Italy. However, if you don't know your hosts very well, I would stay away from food altogether.

If you go to a museum shop, there are often very attractive (and packable) cloth shopping bags. These are always useful, and usually have the name of the museum or the city, so they make a nice gift. I have cloth shopping bags I've bought in cities all over the world, some more than 30 years old. I wouldn't exactly say I collect them, because I use them until they're worn out and then toss them.

I kind of like Reese's peanut butter cups, which is odd because I don't like peanut butter in any other form, and I'm not fond of American chocolate, either, nor milk chocolate from any country.

I wouldn't give anyone drugstore candy as a gift, whether American or European. I would never give an American a Hershey bar for a gift, so why a European. Can you imagine someone visiting the US and giving them a Milka bar as a gift?