I will keep this super simple. Banking in Spain is not like banking in the states. For starters - they are EVERYWHERE. Secondly they have so many hidden fees and tricky steps to walk through - this is when knowing Spanish or having someone who knows it applies. But I digress—--
Actually no one more thing - I have no clue how Spain ever went through an economic hardship or depression or whatever it was called in 2008/2009 because the banks here are literally everywhere - and you constantly see people at the banks for the randomest of reasons.
Also (okay last thing) never fear - the banks are literally two seconds from each other. Caixa - king of all banks in Spain- is literally on every street and within two to three minutes of walking distance to each other. In general you will never be in lack of finding one.
But do fear - if you are not with a major branch like Caixa - who has a main office in the center open 8-5pm you are out of luck. Since pretty much ALL banks close at 2pm. So depending on your work schedule you may have to figure that out.
Now I will tell you the story of how I opened a bank account.
Enter onto stage - me - timid and afraid. Little knowledge of Spaniard Spanish. First I try BBVA. My mom is still with me at this point. It’s about 1 in the afternoon. The line is out the door (not really but there is only one cash register so the line is slow with only 3 people ahead of me). Finally annoyed and my mom doubting this is the way it works - I approach a lady sitting at her computer typing away. In broken Spanish I am not even going to repeat I try to ask her if I can open an account. Correcting my pronunciation first and then telling me basically no I can only do it online because I don't have Spains version of an alien card called 'TIE' - I leave still optimistic but tired because I was also looking for a place to live at the time.
Fast forward to almost a month later - still no bank account. My coordinator kept wanting to know when I was going to open a bank account and I was feeling exhausted and starting to worry. All the banks were basically telling me the same thing: “Necesitas un TIE” to which everyone else was telling me “No you just need a passport.”
Finally though my coordinator understood my struggle when she went with me to a bank and they basically told her the same thing. I needed my TIE card and nomina (payroll) before I could open a bank account. <Sidenote> I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel like there is change coming to the banking industry because even in the states one of my bank accounts just informed me they would start charging me for an account that I've had since 2009.
Anyways it all changed for me one day when my friend asked me to come with her to this bank called Caixa in the city center. I had already been there once because this was literally the only place I could find where someone spoke English and could help me understand why they were rejecting me for a bank account <insert eye rolls and lol’s>
As I sat waiting for her in their very spacious and lush waiting area drinking all the free coffee - I was approached by the same person who had tried to open an account for me the previous week. Apparently Caixa did not need to see your TIE card or in this case need to charge me for an account- as long as I had proof of a nomina (which I did) then they could open a "cuenta" for me. I won’t go into detail about all the whole process after that as it was tedious. But I will say Caixa was not and still is not my first choice for a bank. However, at the time I had no other option and didn’t really want to risk waiting for other banks o approve me - so I decided to go with them. Basically in conclusion, I kind of just randomly opened a bank account. To recap - it did take me about a month to set up a bank account in Spain. But depending on your city it might be different - also I would argue depending on your Spanish skills you could also get different results .
Below I’ve listed different banks. Now that I have my TIE I think I will change banks in the future but for now I am going to give this bank at least a year.
To open an account you will need ( in most cases not all so always double check) :
-nomina (payroll) or some letter from an employer basically saying you will be getting paid on a monthly basis.
-Depending on your job or citizenship status you may need other information like TIE card or maybe an official letter of employment - in my case for an AUX you needed to basically have your nomina and TIE card (If you are from any EU countries it will be easy to set up an account without a TIE)
Again though remember that it depends on your bank.
Bank List:
Bankia : I think you just need your TIE and nomina - originally I had tried to open an account with them and was THIS close but I didn’t have a TIE
BBVA: My other option that I originally wanted and even tried to set up an account online (which was free) but it was weird and I wouldn’t recommend. Just wait until you have the TIE and go in person to open an account
Caixa: The biggest bank in Spain and also (ugh) my bank. They are not bad - it’s been super easy doing transfers because mostly everyone has some sort of Caixa account, but they do have some of the highest fees. Opinions on them vary depending on who you talk to (my friend swears that they are the best and she's had no problem) but another lady told me their customer service leaves little to be desired plus they have high rates so the two do not go together. I must admit that when the “gestioner’ as they are called was trying to get me to sign up he was very persistent which makes me think commission is high stakes there.
Santander - my roommate is with them. Apparently it’s free if you are under 25? But I thought I read a sign that said under 30 - anyways they have high transfer fees apparently if you try to transfer outside of their company
Sabadell - From Barcelona my other roommate is with them - she has nothing but good things to say
Unicaja - I know nothing about them except that there are a ton of them around town
Interbank(?). - I read somewhere you can get a visa credit card with them for free…..but other than that I don’t know much about them
Honorable mentions- I would say don't bank with them unless you really understand Spains banking system
Caja Bank
Bankinter