Avoid or Reduce Bank Charges in Spain

biggmick1

As I travel to Spain a few times a year & was annoyed by rip off fees from British banks.
I followed the advice on travel cards from MSE
but in the last few years Spanish banks have increasingly started to charge fixed fees for ATM cash withdrawals (these are in addition to what your British bank may charge you). Here's what I found at different banks in Catalonia, Spain.

Firstly the only fee free Spanish bank I found was
Caixa Bank (pronounced Cai sha) (I seem to remember not being charged a fee at Kuxta bank but I'm not certain. Love to know if you've found others)

Then the others that I tried in cost order
Bankia Euro 1.75
Sabadell Euro 1.80
BBVA Euro 1.87
Banco Popular Euro 5.00
Santander Euro 5.00
(copy & paste this list to your smartphone before you travel)

Notably for British Santander account holders there is no charge from most Santander ATM machines in Spain (one exception I found was a stand alone Santander machine in a bus station which did charge even on a Santander card.
To check if a machine is going to charge, use the machine as normal & it will advise you of the charge just before you press the final acceptance, which you can cancel without charge. Don't forget to press the "without conversion" button as the rate is very poor. (Also be nice if you can update people here of any changes you find or any other banks that aren't listed here.

These charges were from Autumn/Winter 2018.
Also remember MSE's advice to not accept the conversion offered by the machine this is almost always a bad deal.
Don't forget as well, that if you are using a credit card to withdraw cash, most cards (even most special Travel cards) will charge interest from the day of withdrawal so make sure you pay it off A.S.A.P. Don't let this deter you from using theses cards though, as they can still offer good value if their APR is reasonable, costing about 1.5% if paid off in a month.
Also worth noting MSE's research has shown that Mastercard exchange rates tend to be better than Visa card rates.

My take on the best cards at the moment for ATM cash withdrawals

Debit Cards ATM charges
:)Starling Bank No fees in Europe or the rest of the world
Metro Bank No fees in Europe 2.99% + £1.50 rest of world

Credit Cards ATM charges
Tandem No charges overseas (except interest) but does charge for ATM withdrawals in UK (£2.50min 2.5% plus interest till paid off) also give 0.5% cashback on purchases.
If you also want to use in the UK, go for the Halifax Clarity card (no ATM fees in the UK, except interest but no Cashback on purchases)

When I'm abroad I use my Metro bank (Mastercard) debit card for ATM withdrawals and use Google maps to find a Caixa Bank if there's one nearby.
Then for purchases I use an Aqua (Mastercard) credit card, although I have no problem using the Metro Bank card if needed.
These cards I use are not necessarily the best cards available now but they were when I applied a few years ago & are still good now.

Happy, rip off free travelling.
Don't forget to keep us updated if you find any changes & especially if you find other banks with no charges.

:jUpdate Santander charging British customers for using some Spanish Santander ATM's
It seems this arises because Santander bought out its rival Banco Popular a few years ago and although some of the branches have been rebranded as Santander, the machines are still working on the old system and will charge you, so take care if you're using an ATM you haven't used before.

bagand96

Nice post and nice to have some up to date information on this. Damn these European banks trying to ruin our fun getting the best value exchange rates!

What I’ve found particularly frustrating is that in Spain it seems to vary from region to region. One bank in Madrid didn’t charge me for a withdrawal, a few weeks later the same bank in the Balearics did try to charge. I put it down to the Balearics being far more tourist heavy they were geared up to fleece people.

Neil49

UniCaja don't charge for atm withdrawals either.

They are easy to spot as they have bright green signage.

JohnMl88

bagand96 wrote: »

Nice post and nice to have some up to date information on this. Damn these European banks trying to ruin our fun getting the best value exchange rates!

What I’ve found particularly frustrating is that in Spain it seems to vary from region to region. One bank in Madrid didn’t charge me for a withdrawal, a few weeks later the same bank in the Balearics did try to charge. I put it down to the Balearics being far more tourist heavy they were geared up to fleece people.

Yes, Bankia in Granada is free however in Alicant isn’t free. Liberbank and Bank March are free everywhere

CEON44

Debit Cards ATM charges
Starling Bank No fees in Europe or the rest of the world

Earlier in post you listed fees that certain banks charge. Does this mean that Starling dont charge fees at tthose listed banks? Just need to know as I go to Majorca in 3 weeks and have a Starling card. Dont want to get caught out

worried_jim

CEON44 wrote: »

Earlier in post you listed fees that certain banks charge. Does this mean that Starling dont charge fees at tthose listed banks? Just need to know as I go to Majorca in 3 weeks and have a Starling card. Dont want to get caught out

Starling don't charge you a fee anywhere, it's the ATM owners charging the fee.

CEON44

worried_jim wrote: »

Starling don't charge you a fee anywhere, it's the ATM owners charging the fee.

Right ok. Now I understand. So I need to avoid these banks ATM's if possible. Thanks

skid112

Cajamar charge for all but their own cards within Almeria region, not sure about outside

NoodleDoodleMan

Notably for British Santander account holders there is no charge from most Santander ATM machines in Spain

As long as a minimum of £500 is credited to the UK Santander account monthly, otherwise the 5 Euro fee applies - and the no fee deal is only at Santander branded ATMs in Spain (including Balearics) and Canaries.

As mentioned there can be issues taking cash from former Banco Popular machines since rebranded Santander.

Metro Bank No fees in Europe 2.99% + £1.50 rest of world

Without wishing to be pedantic, "Europe" in the geographic sense is not strictly accurate - it's actually SEPA (Single European Payments Area) where the Metrobank card is fee free.

That includes some territories well outside of Europe.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/explainers/show-me/html/euro_outside_europe.en.html

NoodleDoodleMan

Cajamar charge for all but their own cards within Almeria region, not sure about outside

A Cajamar account will not be available to a British citizen resident in the UK though.

adindas

Thanks very usefull summarising work. You might be one of the lucky one who spend most of the time in sunny Spain Costa Del Sol ??

biggmick1 wrote: »

Notably for British Santander account holders there is no charge from most Santander ATM machines in Spain (one exception I found was a stand alone Santander machine in a bus station which did charge even on a Santander card.

It has been reported earlier here on MSE that the Santander ATM which charges fee in Spain is the one newly acquired by Santander. It might be because it has not been fully integrated into Santander systems. If you report it to Santander, you might get refund for this and might help them to investigate the things for the benefit of other people who will use it later.

Unless the T&C has changed, it should not be any charge to use Santander Debit Card such as Santander 123, Santander 123 lite, Santander Zero, to withdraw cash "using Santander Cash machines in Spain". If my memory serves well, it is written in the T&C given that you keep paying the minimum amount required by the account and (2 DD?).