Last Updated on March 18, 2026 by Bruno Bianchi
Question
Many people seem to be paying charges at Correos for posted International items.
Surely simple mail (bills, letters, cards, flat items of no monetary value) should be free on collection. Can you shed any light on this Correos racket for charging? There must be a protocol that Correos/Aduanas must follow. I’ve had stuff take forever to get here from the UK but no charges applied yet others get stung for no apparent reason.
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These are the answers of some Facebook group members:
“I receive letters from the UK free of charge. Packages on the other hand are always charged.”
“I don’t know, maybe because it is International Mail from outside the EU. Maybe they want to check if it’s a birthday card or $500 in used 50s.”
“Never had a problem with normal mail seems to take 3-4 days from the UK, but packages are a different story, even Amazon packages can get stuck at Barajas (Madrid)”
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Meet Tax Experts →“I always receive normal post from UK with no problem. However, packets are charged depending on content and value declared. You have to pay import tax, IVA and handling charge. Amazon.es or other EU online stores are better as is Ali Express.”
“I receive ordinary letters from the UK but have to admit that most are not posted via Royal Mail, but by SwissPost or FrenchPost or whatever. It appears that a lot of UK businesses are finding better and more reliable alternatives to RM”
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