Postcodes, Postoffice & Addresses

Correos, the postal service in Spain, is slow compared to northern Europe. Mail sent to the same town or city in which it was posted can take three to four days to arrive, while a national delivery can take a week and an international delivery a couple of weeks. Any urgent or important post should be sent by express (urgente) or registered (certificado) mail. To be really sure of a fast delivery its best to use a private courier.

Post can be registered, and telegrams sent, from all Correos offices although its much easier to buy stamps from a tobacconist. Parcels have to be weighed and stamped at Correos offices and must be securely wrapped and tied. The main Correos offices in larger towns are open during office hours whilst the smaller offices might only be open for an hour on each, or certain, days. You can find your local offices and their opening times here.

Letters posted a a central post office usually arrive more quickly than if posted in a postbox (buzon). In cities the postboxes are yellow pillar boxes and in towns and villages they are most often wall-mounted.

Addresses

A typical Spanish address, and the correct way of writing it, reads:
Edificio Blanco 4-2
Avenida de Andalucia
29751 Caleta de Velez
Malaga

The first line of the address denotes:
* the name of an apartment block – Edificio Blanco
* the number of the apartment – 4
* the floor of the building – 2 – which follows the apartment number after a hyphen

The second line of the address is the name of the street – Avenida de Andalucia

The third line of the address denotes:
* the postcode – 29751 – where the fist two digits (29) are the Province number
* the name of the town, village or city – Caleta de Velez

The fourth line of the address is the name of the Province – Malaga.