Essential Spanish phrases

The Paraguayan ID card, issued by the Policía Nacional's Departamento de Identificaciones. Residence gets you one; almost nothing else here works without it — not a bank account, not a driving licence, not a phone contract.

Settling — the word Migraciones uses for the residence file itself. You will hear 'certificado de radicación' constantly; it is the proof-of-residence document, Gs 234,154 a copy.

The status you hold while your temporary residence is being decided. Migraciones says it lets you leave and re-enter the country, study and work — so the wait is not limbo. Ask for it at your first appointment.

The small corner shop that sells everything and gives credit to neighbours. Cheaper than the supermarket for basics and the fastest way to become a known face on your block.

The guaraní. Prices are written 'Gs. 3.044.000' with dots as thousands separators — the smallest note in daily use is 2,000 and the largest 100,000, so ordinary purchases run to six figures.

The daily minimum wage — Gs 117,077 since 1 July 2026. Government fees and fines are written in jornales rather than guaraníes, so every official price in Paraguay moves when the wage does.

'How are you?' and 'good' in Guaraní. Paraguay is genuinely bilingual — Guaraní is co-official and the 2002 census found it was the usual language in 59% of households. Using these two changes how a counter clerk treats you.

'Mixture' — the everyday blend of Spanish and Guaraní that most Asunceños actually speak. Textbook Spanish will be understood; jopara is what you will hear.

Cold yerba mate with iced water and medicinal herbs, drunk from a guampa through a bombilla, shared in a circle. It is the national ritual and the default social invitation. Refusing the guampa is rude; drinking it all before passing it on is not.

Asunción's own nickname for itself, 'my queen' — half affection, half irony about a capital that is both the seat of everything and a low-rise river town.

Instituto de Previsión Social — the contributory social security and health system. Your employer registers you; the 'constancia de asegurado ante el IPS' is also one of the ways to prove economic solvency for permanent residence.

Administración Nacional de Electricidad, the state power monopoly. Paraguay generates far more hydroelectricity than it uses, and the bill in an Asunción summer is still the household's biggest utility.