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The Banks in Spain are modern and well established they all work under the close control of the Bank of Spain (Banco de Espana).
The two main Banking Giants are BBVA and Banco Santander. The latter is now in the throws of buying a British Institution, The Abbey.
In the main Expat areas and in particular the Costas, you will also find a number of UK banks standing side by side with the Spanish Banks. Banks such as Halifax, Llyods TSB, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank and several large Arab Banks can all easily be found.
Savings Banks in Spain are also fairly commonplace and are very similar in their set up to the Building Societies in the UK. Most of the Savings Banks are regional and you will normally find their Branches are confined to the local areas.
Spanish Bank opening times also vary from Bank to Bank and depend on the time of year. In the summer the Banks tend to open and close earlier than the winter. However all the Banks are different and the local Branch of the Halifax Espana here in Marbella is open from 9am to 6pm over the winter with early closing on a Friday.
Choosing between the Banks in Spain can be quite time consuming but there are a couple of things that you should definitely consider.
Does your main UK Bank have an affiliation with any Spanish Bank?
If it does are there any benefits to having your account with that particular Bank in Spain?
The Halifax Bank in the UK for example offers charge free money transfers to the Halifax in Spain. If you are transferring money regularly over a number of years the savings made here can be quite large.
Language barriers are not so much of a problem now as in the main Tourist areas nearly all the staff in Spanish Banks will be able to speak English.
Internet Banking in Spain is just starting to take off and many of the larger Banks in Spain offer Internet Banking. I have an account at Solbank which offers full Internet Access to all my accounts.
The final consideration you need to make is whether you are going to require a Mortgage in Spain or not. If you are taking a Mortgage to buy a property in Spain then it is probably a requirement that you also open an account with that Bank. We have a whole section explaining the ins and outs of Spanish Mortgages.
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