[narag]

In Spain, for historical reasons, lunch is had later and is the biggest meal of the day, often in the middle of work day. There have been talk to end this anomaly but many (most?) companies are very reluctant. For a long time it was very usual to include meal tickets as compensation (it was about six euros in 2000, raising to 10 or so in 2010) because, since it was considered expenses instead of salary, their treatment for taxes was much better both for the company and the employees. There were a few companies that managed the tickets contacting restaurants to accept them and employers to use them.

In their infinite wisdom, the government decided to control the system a little too much, so most companies no longer use them. Even in the good times I didn't like the tickets at all. It was difficult to cash them if you couldn't use them (when we were deployed at customers' premises or sick, we organized diners to "laundry" the tickets) and they forced me to eat too much: I can't eat two courses + dessert in the usual restaurants every day without going overweight very quickly. Give me the money instead! Or a parking spot, or a ping pong table.