When I bought my first property in Spain, opening a Spanish bank account felt like the obvious first step. It wasn’t. Here’s what actually happened — and what I use instead.
When you’re buying property in a foreign country, everything feels like it needs to be done the “proper” way. You need a Spanish bank account, obviously. That’s just how it works, right?
I opened a Sabadell personal account early in the process, feeling very organised. It made sense at the time — I’d be receiving documents, making payments, managing a Spanish property from the UK. Having a local account felt responsible.
What followed was an entirely avoidable series of small fees and frustrations that I’d rather you didn’t have to repeat.
The Fee I Didn’t Notice
Here’s the thing about arriving somewhere new financially: you’re drowning in unfamiliar information. New terminology, new processes, new apps, new contacts — all demanding your attention at once, usually while you’re also trying to hold down normal life back home.
In that rush, I didn’t notice the €15 monthly account fee.
It’s not hidden exactly. It’s in the terms. But when you’re problem-solving at speed and everything is slightly outside your comfort zone, a monthly maintenance charge on a new account isn’t the thing your brain flags as urgent.
By the time I realised Sabadell wasn’t working for me — the app was basic, cross-border transfers to my UK account came with fees that made routine payments more painful than they needed to be — I’d already been quietly paying €15 a month for the privilege of finding this out.
Trying to Leave
When I decided to switch to Revolut Business and close the Sabadell account, I thought the hard part was over.
I withdrew the remaining funds. I called to close it. I was told it was closed. Job done.
Except it wasn’t closed.
I called again. Same result — confirmed closed. Still not closed.
Meanwhile, the account was still running. Still accumulating that €15 monthly fee. Against a zero balance.
By the time I finally managed to actually close it, there was a €70 debt sitting on the account — fees that had quietly built up on an account I’d been repeatedly told no longer existed. To clear it and actually exit, I had to send €70 from my UK account. The international transfer fee for that? Another €30.
None of these individual amounts are going to break anyone. But added up, it’s over €100 spent purely on admin friction — money that achieved nothing except getting me back to zero.
The Overpayment That Proved the Point
Around the same time, I was setting up a virtual office address for the company I own the property through. The quote came in at €229.90 for the year — perfectly reasonable.
I was in my dad’s kitchen after dinner, half-watching my son, half trying to get admin ticked off. I opened my personal Revolut app, navigated to the Euro account, and paid.
I paid €299.
In the rush, I’d typed the wrong amount — around €70 more than the invoice. The provider was gracious and offered to return the difference. The return transfer fee: €30. Nearly half the overpayment gone just to correct a simple mistake.
Here’s why that fee appeared: my personal Revolut account, even though it holds euros, is still a UK-based account. It has a UK sort code and account number, not a Spanish IBAN. From the provider’s side, sending money back to it counted as an international transfer — hence the €30 charge on their end.
The overpayment was entirely my fault. But the fee was a direct consequence of using the wrong tool for the job.
The Distinction That Actually Matters: Personal vs Business Revolut
This is worth understanding clearly, because it’s not obvious until you’ve experienced the difference.
Revolut personal (Euro account): a UK account that can hold and send euros. Useful for making payments outward — typically fee-free from your end. But it doesn’t have a Spanish IBAN, so when a Spanish business or bank needs to send money to you, they may treat it as an international transfer and charge accordingly.
Revolut Business: this is a different product. It comes with a genuine Spanish IBAN — the equivalent of a sort code and account number in the Spanish banking system. Spanish businesses and banks can send to it the same way they’d send to any local account, with no international transfer fees. And unlike a traditional Spanish bank account, there’s no monthly maintenance fee eating quietly into your balance.
One important caveat: you can’t open a Revolut Business account until your Spanish company has been registered with the Registro Mercantil and you’ve received your permanent NIF. So it’s not available from day one. If you’re in the earlier stages — before your company is formally registered, or simply buying as an individual — the personal Revolut Euro account is a perfectly good interim tool for making euro payments. Just understand its limitations when it comes to receiving funds back from Spanish entities. Think of it as a useful stepping stone rather than the final destination.
What I’d Tell Someone Starting Out
You probably don’t need a traditional Spanish bank account to buy property in Spain. Your NIE can be obtained without one. Many of the key payments in the buying process can be made via Revolut. But if you’re going to use Revolut for receiving payments from Spanish entities — not just sending them — go straight to the Business account with a proper IBAN. It removes a layer of friction that isn’t worth dealing with.
If you do decide to open a traditional Spanish bank account — read the fee schedule carefully, set a calendar reminder to review whether you’re actually using it, and do not assume a verbal confirmation of closure means it’s actually been closed.
I learned all of this the slightly annoying way. You don’t have to.
Thinking through how to manage your finances before buying in Spain? How to transfer money to Spain to buy a property covers the bigger picture — including what to consider when moving a large sum for a purchase.