Opening a Spanish bank account sounds straightforward. It isn’t.
When I visited Valencia in early 2025 I did manage to open a personal account with Banco Sabadell — they asked for deferred tax and NIE documents including self assessment returns, I sent them once I was back home, and that seemed fine. One box ticked.
Then the company needed an account.
The company account problem
In Spain, when you form a company you need a bank account to hold the opening capital — typically a minimum of €1,000, though for a property investment company €10,000 is standard. My accountant and the team at Asset1Invest pointed me toward a Santander branch they knew well, a short walk from the office.
Santander said no. So did Sabadell when we tried there next.
Without going into personal detail, my particular circumstances meant that certain documentation the banks required was something I couldn’t provide. If you’ve ever had dealings with the Spanish banking system and found yourself hitting unexpected walls — you’ll know the feeling.
A note on doing this in person
Unlike some countries, Spain requires you to be physically present to set up company banking. There’s no remote workaround — you go in, or you don’t open an account. You could in theory give someone broad power of attorney to handle everything on your behalf, but that would be a significant legal arrangement and likely expensive. For most buyers, going yourself is the only practical option.
The Revolut Business solution
While my accountant worked creatively to find a path through — and his local knowledge and professional relationships were invaluable that day — I started looking at alternatives.
Revolut Business turned out to be the answer. Free to set up, no branch visit required, no archaic documentation demands, free transfers, real-time exchange rates. I set it up from London on my phone.
One important timing note: you cannot open Revolut Business until your company has its permanent CIF number from the Registro Mercantil. That registration takes approximately a month after the notary appointment. So the sequence is: notary → Registro Mercantil → CIF → Revolut Business. Plan accordingly.
Revolut Business is not just a workaround — it operates as a Spanish entity with a genuine Spanish IBAN. That makes it a proper business bank account for all practical purposes, accepted wherever a Spanish IBAN is needed.
The one limitation
Revolut cannot produce the old-fashioned stamped bank certificates that Spanish notaries sometimes require. This added complexity to our capital amplification process — requiring a two-step notary approach rather than a straightforward transfer — which cost more in notary fees than I’d originally anticipated. That said, I make the difference back easily on transfer fees alone.
The Sabadell transfer that made my mind up
At one point I needed to transfer a small amount — around €300 — from my Sabadell account to cover a fee. They charged around €30. On Revolut it would have been free.
That was the moment I stopped thinking of Revolut as a workaround and started thinking of it as the right tool for the job.
What I’d recommend
Open a personal Revolut euro account before you go — useful immediately for spending and transfers from day one. Bear in mind this is not a Spanish bank account and does not give you a Spanish IBAN. It holds your money in euros and exchanges automatically when you top it up from sterling — brilliant for avoiding transfer fees and poor exchange rates, but not a substitute for a local account where a Spanish IBAN is specifically required.
Once your company CIF comes through, open Revolut Business. It operates as a Spanish entity with a genuine Spanish IBAN — a proper business bank account, not a workaround.
Keep a Spanish personal bank account open if you can get one — occasionally useful for specific local payments. But for transfers, exchange, and day-to-day company finances, Revolut is where your money should live.
Just flag the stamped certificate limitation to your accountant early if you know you’ll be going through a notary for anything complex. A good local accountant will know how to navigate it.