Restaurant Scams in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

How it works

The restaurant-lined Rúa do Franco — the primary tourist dining street running between Praza das Praterías and the Mercado de Abastos — has a documented pattern of overcharging, adding unrequested items to bills, and substituting ordered dishes for more expensive alternatives without disclosure. Complaints on TripAdvisor and Camino forums describe being charged for shellfish or seafood dishes that were neither ordered nor priced on the visible menu, receiving pre-filled glasses of wine or bread that appear on the bill, and being given tourist-only menus that omit the lower-priced menú del día available to locals. Peak risk is during July (Feast of Saint James, July 25) and Holy Year when the street is at capacity and staff turnover is high.