Opening a bank account in Spain

Hi all,

is it difficult for expats to open a bank account in Spain ?

Which documents are required to open a bank account in Spain ?

How long does it take to open it ?

Is there any restriction for expats regarding the services (loans for instance)  ?

Which bank would you recommend ?

Thanks in advance for your participation,

Julien

Hello Julien,

Any expat can open a bank account in Spain, the banks junt ask for a personal identification (passport) and your residence adress. It takes about 1 hour to open it but there's many restrictions, loans or credit cards are impossible even for spaniards,but if you pay taxes in your country, don't have to pay here for the money in the account. I recommend you Banco Santander, BBVA or Bankia. Although you can open a bank account in an international bank like Citibank, ING Bank, etc.

I hope this information will be helpful for you.

Regards.

Hello jorgemolivo and thanks for your help.

Harmonie.:)

bankinter is good also, and they all speak english

Lloyds International and Barclays allow you to easily open bank accounts with either an NIE or Passport as ID. Once the account is open you have phone and internet banking in English. Banking is free too apart from a small annual charge.

Thanks jamieroquai and Georgia-j for your contributions!

Harmonie.:)