Banking with Brexit

There are now many of these online-only money options. Some have a banking license and are actual banks (i.e. "challenger banks" or "digital banks" or "neobanks"). Others aren't actually banks (even though they may look like them) and are usually referred to as "e-money institutions" or similar.

They are typically "location independent" as you'd expect from a web-based business. So they don't usually incorporate or have physical branch offices in several countries, as you often see with traditional banks.

Your money is protected by banks under the EU deposit protection scheme. E-money companies protect your funds via segregation and insurance. Some people are really worried about this, but I don't personally think it's a huge issue.

For example, Wise is an e-money company, and recently went public. They're already valued at over 11 billion pounds, so I think they're a pretty safe bet. :-)

Personally, I use Wise quite a bit. But I have accounts with Monzo, Starling, and Revolut. All have debit cards you can use for payments.

As you're paid in UKP, you need an account in this currency. All the above have this.

For Spain, you also need Euros. I think Monzo doesn't currently support this, but the other 3 do.

Wise is web-based I think (I haven't got an app), but I've setup some automatic (SEPA) payments with this.

Monzo, Starling and Revolut all have nice apps, and are mostly (or exclusively) mobile based. I haven't done direct debits with Starling or Revolut, but I'd be pretty confident they support this.

I haven't used N26, but it's a similar idea, just based in Europe (Germany, I think).

As for "making use of my money"... well, that's what banks do. :-) In fact, it's enabled by the famous "fractional reserve banking", which means the money you put in, can be lent out to earn them interest.

I'd guess Revolut, Starling and N26 would be good options to look at (Wise is good too, but I'm presuming you want an app).