How to manage money and cash flow while living in Spain

Edibledee

Hi there, 
My partner and I are planning to move to Spain.
The question I have is about how to handle our income. We will both be working for U.K. companies still while we live in Spain.
We don’t know how to go about the financial side of things... do we keep our U.K. bank accounts ( using a relatives correspondence address) and take out the money In Spain but paying a lot each time we take it out in bank fees.
do we open a Spanish account as well and transfer the money or is this just as expensive ?

Should we open Spanish accounts and ask our employers to pay into the Spanish accounts 

Just very confused about all this
i also have a revolut account if that will be any good Somehow 

Is anyone else in this situation we just need some help 
thank you kind people 

Lumiona

What about Santander? A bank used in both countries. 

MovingForwards

Edibledee said:

Hi there, 
My partner and I are planning to move to Spain.
The question I have is about how to handle our income. We will both be working for U.K. companies still while we live in Spain.
We don’t know how to go about the financial side of things... do we keep our U.K. bank accounts ( using a relatives correspondence address) and take out the money In Spain but paying a lot each time we take it out in bank fees.
do we open a Spanish account as well and transfer the money or is this just as expensive ?

Should we open Spanish accounts and ask our employers to pay into the Spanish accounts 

Just very confused about all this
i also have a revolut account if that will be any good Somehow 

Is anyone else in this situation we just need some help 
thank you kind people 

You would be best off asking on an ex-pat forum, which will have had millions of people move and have the same queries as you.

magritte

Look at Metrobank bank accounts - unlimited free cash withdrawal and purchases in Europe (no fees whatsoever). My mum lives overseas and she still uses that account. You could have your salary paid into it and use it for shopping and cash withdrawals easily while there. 
https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/bank-accounts/products/current-account/
There are other accounts like that, some come with a fee e.g. Nationwide FlexPlus account, some not e.g. Starling. 
I would open two such bank accounts before I moved over there, one as a back-up... And I'd also get some specialist credit cards with no fees for currency purchases, such as Halifax Clarity or Santander Zero. 
Then, once in Spain, you could also look at opening a local bank account...

Archi_Bald

The obvious choice would be Starling Bank GBP and Euro accounts, provided they will let you keep the accounts if you are no longer a UK resident. You have to be a UK resident when you apply. I am not sure what their rules are when you move later on.

kuepper

Virgin current account and Barclays rewards cc have no charges for overseas withdrawals. You need to check your tax situation wrt which country you're liable for tax in

[Deleted User]

Be aware that most ATMs in Spain now charge when using foreign cards - so your free options such as Metro and Starling are unlikely to be free for cash withdrawals.

As a side note, Starling (and Revolut) currently use UK IBANS - it's not clear what will happen once the UK fully exits the EU/EEA at the end of the year.

unforeseen

You will probably find that some things will need payments from Spanish bank accounts. 
You can open non-resident accounts fairly easily. Note however that the majority of Spanish bank accounts have monthly charges

eDicky

dahj said:

As a side note, Starling (and Revolut) currently use UK IBANS - it's not clear what will happen once the UK fully exits the EU/EEA at the end of the year.

Use of IBANs is not limited to EU/EEA member countries' banks.

greyteam1959

@ The OP.
You MUST take professional advice.
If you move to Spain & become a resident your taxation situation becomes quite complex.
Just opening another bank account is taking an incorrect simplistic view of things.

brianposter

unforeseen said:

You will probably find that some things will need payments from Spanish bank accounts. 
You can open non-resident accounts fairly easily. Note however that the majority of Spanish bank accounts have monthly charges

Standard charge is about 14 euros/month. To avoid the charges you need to make a regular payment into the account and also use a card at regular intervals.

You will also need a NIE.