Guide · checked 17 October 2026

Opening a bank account in Spain

A Spanish account makes everything easier, from rent and utilities to being paid. Here's what banks ask for, when the law gives you a right to an account, and how to move money over from the UK.

Resident or non-resident account?

Spanish banks treat you differently depending on whether you live in Spain. If you don't, the Banco de España says the bank will ask you to prove it with documents (Banco de España); a certificado de no residente from the Spanish police does this, and you can ask for one in Spain or through a Spanish consulate, the same way as a NIE (RD 1155/2024, art. 205). Once you move to Spain, tell your bank you're now resident.

To open an account the bank checks who you are and, often, where your money comes from. According to the Banco de España, EU citizens may be asked for their passport or national ID card together with their NIE, and non-EU citizens (which now includes British citizens) for their foreigner's identity card (TIE), plus proof of non-residence if they don't live in Spain. The bank can also ask you later to show where funds came from, and block access if you can't.

Getting a NIE

The NIE is the personal number Spain gives foreigners with financial, professional or social dealings here. You can ask for it in Spain or at the Spanish consulate where you live. A NIE from a consulate lets you deal with Spanish authorities, but it is not a residence permit (Spanish consulate in London). Full guide: getting your NIE, the form, the fee and the appointment.

Your right to a basic account, and who has it

Spanish law gives some people a right to a basic payment account (cuenta de pago básica): an everyday account for paying in, taking cash out, direct debits, debit-card payments and transfers in the EU (art. 8). Banks that offer payment accounts must offer one to anyone who (Real Decreto-ley 19/2017, art. 3):

• people legally resident in the European Union, including those with no fixed address
• asylum seekers
• people without a residence permit whose expulsion is impossible for legal or practical reasons

What this means for UK citizens: the right depends on living legally in the EU. If you are a UK national not yet resident in Spain or anywhere else in the EU, you are not covered, and a bank can simply decline to open an account for you. Once you are legally resident in Spain, you are. If you are applying for a non-lucrative or digital nomad visa, the health insurance guide covers the cover those visas ask for.

Even when you are covered, the bank must refuse if (art. 4):

• you don't provide the information the bank needs under the anti-money-laundering law (Ley 10/2010)
• opening it would go against national security or public order, where the Council of Ministers has so decided
• you already hold an account in Spain that lets you use the basic services, unless that bank has told you it is closing it

A refusal must be in writing, free, with the specific reasons, within 10 working days of your complete application (art. 5.2). The bank can't make the account depend on buying other products. It can charge at most €3 a month for the basic services (Orden ECE/228/2019), and people in a vulnerable situation or on low incomes may qualify for it free (Banco de España).

Outside the basic account, banks can generally choose whether to open an account for you, but the Banco de España says they can't refuse on discriminatory grounds such as your nationality or place of birth (Banco de España).

Using an account from another EU country

Many newcomers start with an EU online bank or e-money account whose IBAN doesn't begin with ES. Under the EU SEPA rules (Regulation 260/2012, art. 9), anyone paying you or collecting money from you by euro transfer or direct debit can't insist that your account is in a particular EU country, as long as it is located in the EU and can receive SEPA payments. Refusing a non-Spanish EU IBAN is called IBAN discrimination, and the Banco de España calls it illegal.

This protects accounts located in the EU. A UK account (an IBAN starting GB) isn't covered, so a Spanish employer, landlord or utility can still ask for a Spanish or other EU account.

If it happens to you: when the business refusing your IBAN is a bank or payment provider, complain to the Banco de España; when it's another business and you're a consumer, the regional consumer authority handles it (Banco de España, European Commission). For a dispute with your own bank, complain to its customer service first; you can then go to the Banco de España.

Moving money from the UK

• Compare the full cost. Transfers from the UK are outside the EU, so fees aren't automatically shared and a correspondent bank may take its own cut. Your bank must show you every fee and the exchange rate it will use (Banco de España). Compare the euros that arrive, not the fee alone.
• State Pension? It can be paid into a bank in the country you live in, converted at the rate on the day, with a 0.39% conversion charge (GOV.UK). Use the UK pension calculator to see how it's taxed here.
• Carrying cash? Declare €10,000 or more when entering or leaving Spain (Ley 10/2010, art. 34), and £10,000 or more carried between Great Britain and a country outside the UK (GOV.UK). A bank transfer is simpler and leaves a paper trail your Spanish bank will want anyway.

In short

1. Get your NIE first.
2. Not resident yet? Expect to prove it, and expect banks to choose whether to take you on.
3. Resident in Spain? You have a right to a basic account, at €3 a month at most.
4. An EU online bank's IBAN must be accepted for euro payments; a UK one needn't be.