This is slightly off topic, but close to something someone suggested I post when I said how much I love the Spanish post office --hopefully I won't be wrong. I know there's cheap minutes and cheaper WiFi, but after serving in five wars I can also say nothing matches getting a package. So bear with this long post.
I walked for 90 days on several Caminos all in Spain, so it may not apply if you're only staying a week or two. I brought on the plane with me some little treats (candy, soap and perfume samples, favorite creams/shampoos, little tubes of my favorite toothpaste ...some were gifts and some I'd bought myself). I also brought some cards and notes friends and family had written to me, and emergency replacements for stuff I wanted with me but might not find if I lost enroute (the only type of socks I like, spare phone charger and camera batteries). I also packed "re supply" tubes of my favorite foot ointment bc marathoners can be almost superstitious about foot care.
I landed in Barcelona, asked my hotel where the post office was, and picked a city about 10 days out where I'd like to spend an extra "rest day" (if your schedule doesn't allow any rest days this may not work UNLESS it's a really big city to be sure the post office is open when you arrive). I mailed treats, notes, etc to myself c/o Lista de Correos, planned rest stop city, city code (I googled that), and also wrote 'perigrina' bc a postal worker suggested they might hold it an extra day or two for a pilgrim. At the time there was a two week limit.
When I arrived at a "rest stop" city I'd go to the post office, pick up my "care package," take out a treat, a card or note, and any emergency or re-supply items needed, pick a new city, relabel and mail. As the weather warmed up I also added some of my cold weather gear.
Only the first time did I really need that second day (Zarutz)--I learned after that to choose a large city with expanded post office hours. So with care it doesn't have to be a rest day, just not a Sunday. I'd also buy more stamps (for post cards to the US, and also to mail to Spanish friends I'd made so far), and add minutes to my SIM card to call home.
I'd have a big silly smile on my face from the moment I walked into the post office, and practically dance out with my treats and notes tucked safely away with my stamps and phone, touchstones of home, to be enjoyed later that night. Even now, years later and back in the US, a post office always make me happy. It's not a total surprise (the notes can be sealed), but since you're mailing to yourself (and the package isn't traveling many miles) you don't have to worry about missing it in transit. And NOTHING beats a care package.
