Spain Money Saving Tips and Offers

Recently, Customs and the Guardia Civil have been cracking down big time on people bringing cheap cigarettes into Spain from Gibraltar.  You used to be able to bring cartons across without any real hassle, except for the Guardia Civil occasionally checking your bag.

Earlier this year they started a massive crackdown on people driving out of Gibraltar on scooters.  The queues getting out can be horrendous when they do this.  They have been targeting scooters because the locals from La Linea drive across and back several times per day with 2 cartons a time (one for the passenger and one for the driver).

Over the last few weeks they have started cracking down on people walking across the border on foot. Depending on the mood of the Guardia Civil, they require you to queue up at the counter at the right hand side if you have a carton of cigarettes. Your passport is scanned into their computer.  According to the Gibraltar Chronicle, a new law has been passed in Spain, which  

includes a specific measure aimed at the border with Gibraltar, restricting cross-border workers and residents within a  15km  radius to one carton of cigarettes per month. That measure has already been implemented at the border for some time.

http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=22018

I cross the border every weekday, and from what I can see, at the moment, I would say you have a 50-50 chance of being stopped if you are crossing on foot.  So be careful.