How safe is it to drink the water from hotels, restuarants in not only the large cities of Spain but the small villages?

Perfectly safe. But if you are that worried, use bottled -- it's very cheap. What do you imaging goes in the ice in your drink???????

Roger
http://www.fermedecandeloup.fr

Tap water is safe to drink in Spain. However, on my recent trip, I noticed that the locals all order bottled water in restaurants (unless it's at a stand-up counter for breakfast). So, even though tap water is safe to drink, I still ordered bottled water at restaurants (do what the locals do).

I think its perfectly safe, but then I drink tap water at home.

Lots of people drink bottled water in Spain because they prefer sparkling water (con gas).

Water all over Spain is safe. We do order botttled mineral water "sparkling" with meals just because we like it.

Here at the Mediterranean coast most people drinks bottled (mineral, bottled water is never tap water here) water because the taste of the tap water is not always good due it to be a very hard water. But tap water is perfectly safe to drink everywhere.

Kenderina, you should consider a sip of your cough medicine, ginebra, prior to drinking any tap water to help with its taste.

Tap water is safe.

In some places, as most of the coast, the tap water tastes from 'not good' as in Valencia, to 'bad' as in Barcelona or 'terrible' as in Tarragona.

Supermarkets there have huge sections for bottled water.

In Madrid tap water is very good, supermarkets sections of bottled water are quite small there.
Some rastaurants don't offer tap water, only bottled.

Sparkling water in spain is 'rare', is the first time i read that we love sparkling water. In many restaurants and bars they simply don't have it.

sander-- Definitely disagree with most of the answers above. Locals buying bottled water, in most cases, have very little to do with a preference for sparkling water and a lot to do with tap water quality.

While there are definitely regions in Spain where water quality is very good, the water quality in Spain is not to be given a widespread seal of approval. There has been tremendous urban development and the public conveyances infrastructure in many regions of Spain (i.e. Andalucia) has not caught up yet. There are many places with poor or insufficient water treatment plants. There are also many cities and towns where there there are still unmonitored or unpermitted discharges. While I visit Spain frequently for pleasure, I have also attended to a number of environmental projects and been witness to all the above.

I strongly recommend you pose this question to a local person in the town(s) you will be visiting. When I visited Barcelona, I had no concerns for water quality. Totally different story near Costa de la Luz or Costa del Sol, for example....While the tap water may be OK for temporary/short term/ocassional use (i.e. ice cube example), may not be safe for long term consumption.

It's perfectly safe - after all, you brush your teth with it. But - in many places it doesn;t tzste very good - at least to someone used to soft water. We just always ordered bottled - since we prefer carbonated and cold.

It is perfectly safe. But not the cheapest liquid in Spain. That would be beer.

I don't know person wrote here where they live, but I live in Barcelona and years ago I worked controling tap water and I can assure you that tap water is perfectly safe in Spain.

It's true that in some cities, tractaments of potable water make it chlorine taste, but one thing is taste water and other safe water.

If you prefer, always you can order bottled, is not expensive in Spain.

i travel to spain on a regular basis . also rural areas and big cities like madrid, barcelona and the islands, costa del sol etc.

TAP WATER IS PERFECTLY SAFE!

but taking into consideration that especially american tourists are extremly vulnurable to any kind of germ or additives which might cause a dysentery i would recommend bottled water. this is a generalization and should be taken as a guideline. every individual knows itself best and can make a choice.

div

Hey, Comfy !! What do you think I do ?