What does ‘pasta’ mean in Spain?
In Spain, pasta is everyday slang for money, like “dough” or “cash”: ¿Cuánta pasta te has gastado? means “How much money did you spend?”. It still means pasta the food too, and the context always makes clear which one you mean.
Hear it in a real scene
In the Lince app, you hear pasta in a scene from El Hormiguero, “No teníamos pasta”:
«Supongo que cuando teníamos edad no teníamos pasta y cuando tuvimos pasta no teníamos edad.» I suppose when we were the right age we had no money, and when we had money we were too old.
What pasta means
Money, cash Colloquial
The slang sense is uncountable, like money: No tengo pasta, ganar pasta, ahorrar pasta. You will hear it from every age group in relaxed conversation.
Una pasta, un pastón — a fortune Colloquial
Cuesta una pasta and se ha gastado un pastón both mean that something cost a lot of money.
Soltar la pasta — to cough up Colloquial
Soltar (to let go of) plus pasta means paying, usually reluctantly: Venga, suelta la pasta.
Food, biscuits and character Neutral
Pasta is also the food and any paste (pasta de dientes is toothpaste); in Spain unas pastas are small biscuits served with tea or coffee, and ser de buena pasta means being good-natured.
Where and when you will hear it
Pasta as money is typical of Spain. In much of South America people say plata, and in Mexico lana; Spanish speakers everywhere also understand dinero, the neutral word you should use in formal situations.
There is no confusion in practice: comer pasta is eating pasta, and ganar pasta is earning money.
Examples from everyday Spain Spanish
- Este mes no tengo pasta para salir.I don’t have any money to go out this month.
- El alquiler en Madrid cuesta una pasta.Rent in Madrid costs a fortune.
- Se ha gastado un pastón en el móvil nuevo.He’s spent a fortune on his new phone.
- Venga, suelta la pasta, que me lo debes.Come on, cough up, you owe me.
- Es de buena pasta: siempre ayuda a todo el mundo.She’s good-natured: she always helps everyone.
How to say it
PAHS-tah: both a’s are open, as in “father”, and the final a stays full instead of fading to “uh”. Pastón is pahs-TOHN, with the stress on the last syllable.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “it costs a fortune” in Spain?
Cuesta una pasta, or cuesta un pastón. Both mean something is very expensive, and both are informal.
Do Latin Americans say pasta for money?
Rarely. In much of South America people say plata, and in Mexico lana; pasta as “money” is typical of Spain.