I was in Madrid three weeks ago for work. I took my clients out to dinner and had to pay in cash... It happens often.
The GDP of the country has little to do with credit card use. I was surprised when I went to Australia and discovered that Debit cards are a new thing that required marketing to spread. Credit cards were in wide use but paying for things directly out of your bank account with a card is still relatively new.
Are you one of the many Americans that don't even have a passport never mind exploring anywhere that doesn't take your cheap money?
Well, half my family is Spanish, and I travel there every year for a few weeks, and at least in Galicia, small shops that don't accept bank cards are still reasonably common, yes. Even in Vigo, which isn't exactly that small, it's not hard to find a few.
Oh, and that was certainly true of Lloret de Mar as well, just a few years ago. Supermarkets and such all accept cards, but the bazaars (run mostly by easterners, from what I could tell) mostly didn't.
The GDP of the country has little to do with credit card use. I was surprised when I went to Australia and discovered that Debit cards are a new thing that required marketing to spread. Credit cards were in wide use but paying for things directly out of your bank account with a card is still relatively new.
Are you one of the many Americans that don't even have a passport never mind exploring anywhere that doesn't take your cheap money?
http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/02/17/how-many-americans...