Spaniards want you to use a Spanish bank account. If you wish to rent or buy a house here or make any significant purchase then it is much easier if you have a bank account here. We asked about a dozen ex-pats which bank they would use and everyone either recommended Sabadell directly or said they had move to Sabadell recently. Sabadell own TSB and part of that seems to have resulted in their ensuring that most staff have good English and also all the contracts etc that the bank produces are in both Spanish and English. (The Spanish is a legal requirement). This is really helpful.
Anyway we made an appointment with a specific lady in the branch and when we got there it was really easy to open an account. All we needed was our passport and it helped that we also had our NIE, although this didn't seem to be compulsory. They do need a UK address though until you have full residency.
A basic account only costs c. 30 euro a quarter and you get one debit card and one credit card free.
You will also need to consider how you are going to move any money from the UK to Spain.
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