Help pls

We are purchasing a property and need to open a bank account in Spain.  Our solicitors have power of atourney so they can do this for us.  BMN Caja murcia has been recommended?

Any info on which banks are good and have english on line banking please.....also what charges should I expect?

Thanks

Living in Uk buying first holiday home in spain

A while ago there was a good choice - some of the UK banks, particularly Barclays, were providing an excellent service at modest or nil charges.  I think it's fair to say that the remaining banks are now trying to find their feet after the last few years with so many closures and mergers.

But if I were you I would ensure that whoever you choose are accessible, speak some English, are not too busy, are not too greedy with charges and live in the 21st Centrury.  Thanks to our solicitor we were initially with Santander and they failed on each of these criteria - unbelieavably bad.

Others may differ on the annual charge.  I think some banks still provide free banking if you receive a salary or pension into the account.  But we pay €70 pa for an average service, nowhere near Barclays, but a whole lot better than Santander.

It is import to remember that in Spain, like many other countries, the manager of a bank can exercise judgement on what each customer is charged for any service.  It is therefore most important, in addition Acer’s advice, to negotiate with any bank you think will be OK for you, before you open an account.  Other customers' experiences with a bank will probably have no bearing on how any other customer will be treated.

An example.  Most bank charge a percentage when funds are transferred into an account from say UK. My son spoke to his (my) bank when he bought his first property here, and he pays 0.30 euros as a flat rate charge on any transfer received.  It saved a good deal each time he transferred cash, in Euros,  from UK to buy a property.

Also,, do not think that anything here is the same as in UK (or anywhere else) it frequently is very different,  so always ask before you act if you do not want nasty surprises.

Sol Bank , now part of Sabadell, charged me 0.5% on the whole of a sterling investment transfer to another bank.  It amounted to £800. In UK that would probably have been a max of £25.   I got stuck with that charge even though I knew the system and tried very hard to negotiate with the bank.  I was closing the account so they were, shall I say,  not 'helpful'.

I apologise in advance for going off topic, but on a very recent trip to Calahonda I noticed that Barclays were still trading, I understood that they had pulled out of Spain.

Barclays private banking was bought by La Caixa and is still using both names for now.

The Barclays branch in Calahonda (Calypso) is still open, the staff are waiting to hear what their future holds as there is a La Caxia branch a mile further up the road (Los Jarales) no doubt one will have to close.