How to Type @ on a Spanish Keyboard in Peru

Spanish keyboard layout with @ symbol (photo © Microsiervos, flickr.com)

Here’s something you might want to remember, especially if you’re not traveling with a laptop in Peru: Most keyboards in Peru are set up using the Spanish or Latin American configuration, so they might seem a little strange at first.

Generally you won’t find many problems with this, but there’s nothing worse than sitting in a cramped and noisy Peruvian internet cafe wondering how the hell to type the @ symbol.

How to Type @ in Peru

The standard “Shift+@” will sometimes not work in Peru (for example, you see the @ key — either on the number 2 or letter Q — but it doesn’t work when you press it in conjunction with Shift).

This is due to differences between Latin American and Spanish keyboard configurations (and the way that keys are mapped on local computers), as well as differences between keyboards used in Britain and the USA, both of which use a standard English language layout.

If “Shift+@” isn’t working on your keyboard, try one of the following:

Hold down Alt and type 64 — this normally works
Hold down Control+Alt+@ (the “@” will often be located on the “Q” or “2” key).

At least one of these methods should produce @ on a Spanish or Latin American keyboard. If neither works, try the more familiar “Shift+@”, if you haven’t already. You can always copy-paste the @ symbol from somewhere (from this very article, seeing as you’re already here), but that gets boring pretty quickly.

What is @ in Spanish?

Obviously, you can always ask the guy who works in the internet cafe how to type @ if you’re still having problems. @ is arroba in Spanish. If you don’t speak Spanish, get the guy’s attention, point at the @ key on your keyboard (if you can see it), say arroba (roll the “rr”) and he should know what you mean. There’s always a chance that one of the keys is broken – keyboards in Peruvian internet cafes are sometimes pretty beaten up.

Spanish and Latin American Keyboard Layouts

I’m not too sure if the Spanish or Latin American keyboard layout is more common in Peru. You’d imagine that the Latin American keyboard would be standard, but the last two keyboards I bought in Peru have both had the Spanish layout. As long as you remember Alt 64, you should be able to type the at symbol (@) on either keyboard.