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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

Spain holiday warning after simple scam leaves Brits out of pocket

Spanish police have warned holidaymakers about falling foul of a simple scam.

The Guardia Civil have urged visitors to the country to check their change when spending money on holiday.

The police say that cashiers have been tricking customers by giving them change in a legitimate currency, but from a different country.

Holidaymakers have been given Turkish lira rather than the euro, in particular when a two-euro coin is owed.

The distinctive silver ringed coin looks very similar to the Turkish lira, despite being worth about a fortieth of the value. Next time you're spending cash in the Eurozone, make sure you know the difference between the two coins.

The two euro coin (Getty Images)

The two euro has a number two on one side, and different images on the back depending on where it is minted.

They include Spain's King Felipe and the iconic Barcelona cathedral Santiago de Compostela.

The Turkish lira coin has the first president of Turkey, Mustafá Kemal Atatürk, who is the founding father of the Republic of Turkey.

The one lira is gold on the outside and silver inside, while the two euro is the opposite.

The Turkish lira looks similar to the two euro coin (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The scam will be particularly costly at the moment as the value of the Turkish lira has plummeted so significantly.

Brits changing £500 can expect to receive over 50 per cent more in Turkish lira – the equivalent of almost £167 extra - for their pounds after the currency plummeted.

This has led to a big boost in the number of Brits heading there for a holiday.

The country's tourist board say it is on track to welcome three million visitors from the UK in 2022 - the highest number since records began.

In the first nine months of 2022, Turkey received 2.8 million UK visitors, a full 0.24million more than the same time period in 2019.

With 67 million people currently living in the UK, 4.5% of the population may have visited Turkey by the end of the year, if each person only went once.

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