🇪🇸 2 cities in Spain, sorted by daily travel budget. Not the exchange rate — how cheap it feels on your own income, and where a price becomes a rip-off. Updated September 2026
| City | Per day | Per month | Local meal | Coffee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇪🇸 MadridBig city | $252 | $4,794 | €12 | €2 |
| 🇪🇸 BarcelonaBig city | $267 | $4,840 | €12 | €2.5 |
Per day = one mid-range night + three meals, a coffee and two taxi rides. Open a city for item-by-item prices, rip-off thresholds and live traveler reports.
With a mid-range room, between $252 and $267 a day depending on the city — about $259 on average. Hostels and local eateries cut that by 30% or more.
Short-term rental plus living costs runs $4,794–$4,840 by city, about $4,817 on average.
By daily budget, Madrid ($252/day) is the cheapest and Barcelona ($267/day) the most expensive.