What does para eso están las amigas mean?

ExpressionColoquial

that's what friends are for

The standard formula for waving away a favour, just as in English. It is also misused on purpose: said in reply to an ironic gracias, straight after the least kind thing available, it turns a jab into a joke. Deploying a kind phrase in the least kind spot available is one of the most Spanish jokes there is.

—Gracias por quedarte con el perro. —Nada, para eso están las amigas.

Sincere, in most contexts.

¡Vale! for iOS

Hear it the way Spain actually says it

In the app, expressions are taught inside real conversations from Spain: read cold, explained line by line, then read again. It’s the Spanish textbooks leave out.

07

Unit 07

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«somos un puto desastre»

The ¡Vale! app: a conversation from Spain, read with its recording