Blog | Page 88 | Jean Galea

🏦 Best Commission-Free Banks in Spain (Updated 2024)

Last updated: February 14, 2024294 Comments

Upon moving to Spain, one of the first things you need to do is open a bank account.

You will need it for several things, most importantly for paying your monthly rent. A foreign bank account is not that useful in Spain as many institutions rely on direct debits to a local account. For example, if you make a gym subscription, or if you sign up for private health insurance, you will need to provide your bank details, and you need to give a Spanish IBAN number.

See also: Best broker for buying stocks in Spain

The same thing applies if you have an iPhone and want to use the Spanish app store; you need a Spanish debit or credit card.

When I arrived in Spain, I had a list of criteria that I used to search for the best bank here. Let me share them with you:

Commission-free.
I’m giving money to the bank and they will use it to gain money, I shouldn’t be paying them. If anything, they should be compensating me for providing the capital.
Straightforward to open and operate.
I didn’t want to jump through too many hoops to open a bank account, and I expect a modern web and mobile interface to operate on a daily basis.
English-speaking staff and multilingual website and contracts.
Not so much of a deal-breaker as I’m fluent in Spanish, but it’s always a plus.
Stable and highly-regarded bank.
I don’t want nasty surprises in the future, so let’s keep to the top banks and avoid going with the lesser-known ones.

Here are some of the typical bank fees charged by banks here that I was not prepared to pay:

Maintenance fees
There is usually an average fee for having your bank account and this is anything from €40 year and upwards
Transferring money
If you use your bank account to transfer money, even to another Spanish account, you may be charged. The transfer cost is usually around €2 or C3 for every transaction you make. Online transactions are usually free.
ATM
If you use a cash machine that is not linked to the bank you use then you will be charged a fee. This varies but is likely to be at least €2.
Credit and debit cards
Some banks may charge a small fee per year for maintaining your card and can be around €8 and €10 per year.

After spending many hours in online research, speaking to people and visiting bank branches, these were my shortlisted banks:

Currency Conversions

Before we delve into details about each of these banks and my top pick, I’d like to make a special note for those who will be transferring money from other countries. The most common cases are GBP and USD but this applies to any other non-Euro currency.

I suggest that you use Wise for your conversions as you will save a ton of money versus any local bank. You can also set up a Wise Borderless account which gives you a debit card in multiple currencies that is perfect for travel.

Ok, now that you now know how to do currency exchanges the right way, let’s move on to Spanish banks. If you have any questions about currency exchange, leave a comment and I’ll try to help out.

N26 – Best Low-Cost Bank in Spain for 2023

Unfortunately, I haven’t been very impressed by banking in Spain. It’s decent enough, don’t get me wrong, and most banks have very good online systems and apps, however, support and compliance can get very frustrating.

That is why I would recommend N26, a German bank with the very latest technology and an amazing mobile app through which you manage your account.

Since April 2019, N26 gives its Spanish users a Spanish IBAN account, so you will be able to use the bank for any direct debits as you would use other Spanish bank accounts.

Now that we have the option, I recommend opening an account with N26, which is a new breed of bank that is totally app-based. This is the future of banking, so they give you best-in-class digital facilities such as an app and website to go with it, while also helping you track your expenses.

I use DEGIRO as a stockbroker in combination with N26 as a bank account, and I have zero hassle with local branches and any other issues.

Revolut

The famous online bank Revolut is also available to residents of Spain. Revolut is a digital banking app and card that focuses on technology, low fees and premium features. It’s designed for those who travel a lot and offers ways to spend abroad, including international money transfers with no hidden fees.

When you sign up, you will need to choose between three account tiers, starting at €0 per month for the Standard account.

For all account tiers, Revolut gives you a free IBAN account, a free UK current account and a bank card so you can spend your money. You can spend in over 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate and exchange 29 fiat currencies. There are a number of features that come with each account tier, such as free ATM withdrawals plus exclusive features that come with the Premium and Metal accounts.

Revolut has three tiers: Standard, Premium and Metal. The Standard account is €0 per month, the Premium account is €7.99 per month and the Metal account is €13.99 per month.

One of Revolut’s most appealing features is that it lets you spend fee-free at the interbank rate in over 150 currencies.

Using it abroad is much like using it in Spain. However, don’t forget that while there’s no spending limit for card payments, free ATM withdrawals are limited to €200 per month with the Standard account (higher for Premium and Metal), after which you’ll be charged a 2% fee.

Revolut received its European banking license from the European Central Bank in December 2018. This means that if you open a current account with Revolut in the future your funds will be protected up to €100,000. However, at the time of writing, this was still being put into place. For now, Revolut still has obligations to safeguard your funds in a separate bank so you can get them back should anything happen to Revolut.

Revolut stands out from its competitors in cryptocurrencies. In 2017, it became the first challenger bank to let customers buy cryptos within the app.

What’s more, it’s incredibly easy for anyone to use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin with Revolut. Revolut’s aim is to make cryptocurrencies accessible. Customers have access to five different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and XRP. However, you have to hold a Premium account or higher to access the cryptocurrency feature automatically. Otherwise, you will need to invite three or more friends to use the app to unlock the feature.

Revolut shows you real-time cryptocurrency graphs which shows you current rates. You can also set up price alerts to hear when your cryptocurrency hits a certain value.

Revolut applies a markup of 0.5% on major currencies and 1% on other currencies over the weekend when markets are closed.

You are charged at least a 1% markup for currencies such as the Thai baht, Russian rouble, Ukrainian hryvnia and the Turkish lira. This rises to 2% on weekends.

You can make fee-free currency conversions up to €6,000 per month, after which a 0.5% fee applies.

The big disadvantage of using Revolut at the moment is that you don’t get a Spanish IBAN. Although according to EU rules, businesses here in Spain should accept European IBANs for direct debit purposes, in practice there are some big companies that still refuse to do so. You might want to check which companies you will need to work with and decide accordingly.

Having said that, since there is no cost to signing up to and maintaining a standard Revolut, I would still recommend having it, especially since you like to travel. Having more options is always better than less options. If you’re worried about managing multiple cards, have a look at the solution I found for that further down in the article.

Wise

Before you move abroad consider opening a TransferWise multi-currency account. You get your own free local bank account details in Europe, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand so you can have a local bank account before arriving.

It comes with a debit card so you can pay and withdraw money at ATMs once you come to Spain with much lower fees than with your bank.

Read my full Wise Borderless review or go ahead and open an account using the link below.

[Read more…]

📈 The Best Online Stock Brokers in Spain in 2024

Last updated: March 21, 202467 Comments

Following my move to Spain, I started searching for a local broker to start investing in stocks.

I’m not a huge fan of Spanish financial institutions, and given the choice, I’d much rather use an international stockbroker. That also makes it easier for me if I eventually move my residence to another country.

There are two main advantages of working with a Spanish broker, on the other hand:

No need to fill in any foreign asset reporting documents at the end of the year (Spanish Modelo 720 in this case).
Advantageous commissions (or lack thereof) for the local stock market.

The Modelo 720 form is an absolute drag to compile, but once you get the hang of it or outsource it, this factor becomes less of a deal-breaker. However when the March deadline for that form comes around, it’s a good reminder of how backward the Spanish taxation system is. I invest internationally and not in the Spanish market, so the second advantage is not so important to me.

With that said, here are the best options I’ve found.

[Read more…]

An Introduction to Padel (aka Paddle)

Last updated: March 20, 202323 Comments

Meet my favorite sport: Padel (or Paddle, as it is sometimes referred to in the English-speaking community).

My Padel Story

Until 2015, I’d been a football (soccer) fan all my life and I used to enjoy practicing this sport on a weekly basis with my friends back in Malta. It was my favorite sport by far. However, once I started playing padel it immediately replaced football’s place in my life. I became thoroughly addicted to this sport and many years later I still can’t get enough of it.

Before trying padel, I’d played a few racket sports sporadically, mostly tennis and table tennis, and I enjoyed both of them.

In 2015, while holidaying in Seville, I saw some people playing padel and I was captivated. I made a promise to myself to try out this strange sport whenever I had the chance. I had no idea what it was called back then.

I later learned that it was called padel and that it is very popular all around Spain. One of the first things I did upon my arrival in Barcelona was to attend a padel meetup. Thus I fulfilled my earlier promise. I was hooked from the very first match I played. Soon enough I was trying out different rackets and reading all the material I could get my hands onto.

Padel is a very social sport, here’s a photo with some friends from the Barcelona meetup.

I took the sport very seriously and continue to enjoy watching and playing it. You can read about my full padel journey here.

So What is Padel?

Padel is a very social sport. It is always played in doubles format, unlike tennis where the main focus is on the singles matches. It is also very easy to learn compared to tennis, so you don’t even need lessons to start playing with your friends. This is especially true if you have played other racket sports in the past. Here in Barcelona, one can find various tournaments called Americanas which mean that everyone plays against everyone, changing partners for every match. As you can imagine you can get to know a lot of people during such tournaments. They’re the perfect place for expats to make new friends especially if you want to make some local friends.

The sport is essentially a combination of tennis and squash and is great for players of all ages and skills. The court is one-third the size of a tennis court and is enclosed with wire mesh and glass walls which you can play off when you need to. Rules are a mixture of squash and tennis, and use the same scoring system as tennis. Compared to tennis it is less focused on strength and more on tactics and psychology.

Padel in its current form was invented by Mexican millionaire Enrique Corcuera in the 1960s, although we can trace back its origins to 1890 when it was played by British sailors in the lower levels of their navy ships. The first padel courts in Spain were built in 1974, in Marbella. Spain counts with nearly 10,000 padel courts (about the same number as Argentina where the game was developed earlier), approximately 4 million regular players, and the number of registered players is continuously increasing. Sales of paddle rackets in Spain are nearly four times that of tennis rackets.

Padel is very popular in Spain and Argentina as it’s been played in these countries for decades, however, many other countries are experiencing a padel boom and are catching up. We might in fact be entering the golden age of Padel as it is currently the fastest-growing racket sport in the world.

With Spain being a very popular tourist destination, many tourists are getting introduced to Padel there and then taking their new-found hobby back to their countries. This is currently one of the main drivers behind Padel’s growth in Europe. World Padel Tour and Premier Padel, the biggest worldwide competitions, also help create interest outside of Spain.

Building padel courts is also a great investment opportunity since courts are smaller than tennis and the rental is paid by four people, therefore maximizing revenues. It is, therefore, more feasible to build padel courts versus tennis courts, especially in densely populated areas where the cost of land is very high.

Essential Padel Equipment

If you’re interested in trying padel, you’ll need the following equipment:

Padel racket: Padel rackets are solid, perforated, and stringless. They are usually made of composite materials, such as carbon fiber or fiberglass, and are lighter than tennis rackets. When choosing a padel racket, consider factors such as weight, balance, and shape to find the one that best suits your playing style and skill level.
Padel balls: Padel balls are similar to tennis balls but with slightly less pressure. Make sure to purchase balls specifically designed for padel, as using tennis balls can affect the gameplay and damage your racket.
Court shoes: Proper footwear is crucial for playing padel, as it provides the necessary grip and support for the quick movements and changes of direction typical of the sport. Look for court shoes with padel-specific soles, good cushioning, and lateral support.
Comfortable sportswear: Wear comfortable, breathable sportswear that allows for freedom of movement during the game. Padel-specific clothing is available, but any sportswear suitable for tennis or other racket sports will work just as well.

My racket

Watching Padel

At a professional level, both men’s and women’s matches are very exciting to watch. However, I’d say the women’s matches are better if you are watching to learn new techniques.

The men’s matches are more exciting as the points tend to be longer and crowd-pleasers such as smashes and out-of-court play are more common. However, since they are played at breakneck speed it’s hard to follow the particular movements of the players and hence harder to learn from. Of course you can always grab a recording and play it in slow motion to learn how your favorite player hits the ball. It’s just very hard to do so when you’re watching live games.

Padel tournaments are not only for the pros. Any padel player can also join amateur tournaments that are held in many cities in Spain. We are now seeing international amateur padel tournaments start to take place, as it’s becoming a profitable niche in the sports tourism sector.

If you’re in Barcelona you can join our Barcelona padel community on Facebook.

Have you ever played padel or seen it being played? I’d love to hear from padel players from all around the world!

How To Send and Receive Faxes for Free Without a Fax Machine

Last updated: March 21, 20205 Comments

Fax machines must be one of the most loathed gadgets ever invented, however, they are still in use by many corporations and governments.

If you have been asked to send a fax to someone and you don’t have a fax machine at home or in your office, worry not, I have a great solution for you.

Sending Faxes for Free

Head over to HelloFax and sign up (email address and password, or via your Google/Facebook accounts)
Have the documents ready on your computer, then upload them to the HelloFax site via their easy upload system. You can even upload files from Dropbox, Evernote, Box or Google Drive.
Enter the fax number of the recipient and hit send. That’s it!

With the free plan, you can send up to 5 free faxes per month. If you need to regularly send and receive faxes (yes, you can also receive faxes, they get sent to your email account), you can purchase a monthly subscription for just $9.99. That will give you up to 300 pages per month.

Of course, there is also a 30 day no strings attached trial.

For occasional use, I’ve just stuck to the free plan which works swimmingly well and has solved the fax problem for me going forward.

Send a free fax with HelloFax

Another great option for sending faxes, just in case you need to send more pages than the ones HelloFax gives you for free, is Fax.Plus.

Receiving Faxes for Free

The free plan at HelloFax does not allow you to receive faxes for free. Instead, I use FaxBurner, a similar service that also allows you to receive and send faxes for free. The sending of faxes with FaxBurner is limited to USA and Canada, so I prefer HelloFax for sending.

To receive faxes with FaxBurner all you need to do is sign up for a free account, then create a free number using the interface. You are then able to receive faxes on that temporary number.

Send a free fax with FaxBurner

🛍️ Where to Buy Used Items in Spain

Last updated: April 02, 202315 Comments

In recent years, the second-hand market in Spain has grown significantly, providing a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to buying brand-new items. Whether you’re looking for furniture, clothing, electronics, or even cars, these top websites will help you find the perfect second-hand item at a fraction of the cost. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the best websites for finding second-hand items in Spain, so you can save money while shopping responsibly.

Top Second-Hand Websites in Spain:

Wallapop.com: One of the most popular websites for buying and selling second-hand items in Spain, Wallapop offers a user-friendly platform where you can find a wide variety of products, from clothing and electronics to furniture and cars.
Wallyboo.com: Focused on children’s items, Wallyboo allows you to rent or buy second-hand kids’ items in Spain. From clothes and toys to strollers and car seats, this website is perfect for parents looking to save money while providing the best for their little ones.
Mitrastero.org: A platform dedicated to the exchange of second-hand items, Mitrastero encourages users to swap items they no longer need with others who might find them useful. This website promotes sustainable consumption and helps users declutter their homes.
Vibbo.com: Formerly known as Segundamano, Vibbo is a well-established second-hand marketplace in Spain. With a broad range of categories, including real estate, vehicles, and household items, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for on this website.
Casinuevo.net: As the name suggests, Casinuevo focuses on items that are in excellent condition or “like new.” This website is perfect for those looking for high-quality second-hand items, from electronics and appliances to clothing and accessories.
Tablondeanuncios.net: A classified ads website with a wide range of categories, Tablondeanuncios allows users to post free ads for items they want to sell, making it an excellent platform for finding second-hand items at reasonable prices.
Ebay.es: The Spanish version of the popular international auction site, Ebay.es offers a vast selection of second-hand items, from collectibles and antiques to electronics and clothing. With its bidding system, you have the chance to score fantastic deals on unique items.
Anuncios.es: A free classified ads website, Anuncios.es allows users to post ads for second-hand items across various categories. The website also features a section for job offers and services, making it a versatile platform for all your needs.
Re-read.com: For book lovers, Re-read is a fantastic website that offers a wide selection of second-hand books at affordable prices. You can find both fiction and non-fiction titles in multiple languages, making it a treasure trove for avid readers.
Todocoleccion.net: Ideal for collectors and enthusiasts, Todocoleccion is a specialized platform that offers a vast array of second-hand collectibles, antiques, and vintage items. From stamps and coins to toys and art, this website is a must-visit for those in search of unique items.
Coches.net: If you’re in the market for a second-hand vehicle, Coches.net is the perfect website to find the best deals on used cars in Spain. With a wide range of models and price points, this platform makes it easy to find the ideal car for your needs.

If you want to save money but buy new instead, check out my favorite online shops in Spain.

Have I missed out on your favourite second-hand items site? Let me know in the comments section.