Let the madness begin… Rebajas!

Two times a year people in Spain are given the chance to do some serious shopping!  Similar to “Black Friday” in America, in Spain they have “Rebajas.”  The only difference is “Black Friday” is a 1 day sale and “Rebajas” is a 2-month period of what can best be descried as a sales frenzy, and actually occurs twice a year.  “Am I in heaven?” you ask?!?  YES!!!!!!!!!  (If only my budget didn’t exist, but Todd is too smart for that!)

So if you find yourself in Spain between the months of January/February OR in July/ August … go crazy, just like all the Spanish people!  Everything is on sale.  And not just 10% off… everything is 50-70% off!  Incredible!!!  But, be forewarned, you will have to work for it!  

This is where the "madness" comes in, and why this topic deserves its own blog post.  Rebajas isn't just 'a sale'-- it's an entire experience.  From the moment you walk in a store, you will be sorting, picking and rummaging through racks of clothes that aren’t organized by style, size or color (if they still happen to be hanging on the hanger and not on the floor), fighting off old ladies who elbowing their way past you, and then heading to the dressing room, only to wait in line to try on the ‘less than 6 items’ you’re allowed to bring in at a time.  

Once you’ve finally made your selection you head to the check-out line only to search for the end.  Your first task is trying to locate the last person in line, normally you literally have to ask “Quien es la última?” (Who is last?) – Spaniards aren’t great about waiting in line and staying there and they will take any chance they can get to cut in line (feels like Kindergarten?!?).  Once you finally reach the end, you realize there are at least 15 people ahead of you and only one cashier checking people out.   At this point you ask yourself, is it worth it?  I’m not going to lie, sometimes times I look at the article(s) of clothing in my hand and say forget it and walk out, but sometimes it’s worth the 20 minute wait, and when you walk out you feel SO exhilarated – you got a great deal on something you really like, you survived shopping with the locals, and then you’re on to the next store…

The Men's dress-shirts section.

Are there more clothes on the hangers or on the floor?

The stack of clothes waiting to be put back from the dressing room.

In America after Christmas, I’ll speak for myself and say that I’m usually pretty short on cash.  But here in Spain it’s quite the opposite.  Where do these Spaniards get all their money?  We're still not quite sure…