22 Mar 2025 10:36 AM:

I would recommend the area in the east of Almeria province. In particular the towns of Mojacar, Garrucha, Vera, Turre, Los Gallardos, Palomares and Villaricos. (All within a 30 minute drive of each other)

This where the Spanish come to holiday but has a good mix of other European countries and even South Africans. 

There are no highrise blocks of flats. Nothing over 3 levels above gorund is allowed. Currently the local councils are not allowing new urbanisations to be built but instead promoting the building of villas. This is all helped by the fact of the construction of the AVE line from Almeria city, which will link up to the rest of Europe. One of the few stations on this highspeed line will be at Vera.

Our menu del dias prices average around €16 per person. But there is also Michelin starred restaurants if want a more refined taste. Regular festivals and activities (example: Garrucha Ruta de tapas, excercise classes on the beach, Moors & Christians). In short, you can do as little as you want of as much as you want.

Long flat beaches (which includes a naturist section), plenty of hiking trails, as well this area is a favourite spot for professional cycling teams to come and practice.

Thread: Best Areas to Live in Spain for a Relaxed Lifestyle?

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25 Feb 2023 6:36 PM:

Openbank, which is Santander's online bank. There are no bank charges because everything is done through an app on your phone or laptop. We have been with them for 4 years and no bank charges. The app has a lot of functionalities in order to manage your finances. I either email or whatsapp them if I have any questions.

Thread: Spanish Banks??!!

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19 Feb 2021 9:25 AM:

jackt - Can I just point out that Spanish bank accounts are designed for Spanish people and not for British immigrants to Spain therefore to the Spanish people they are not rip off. I 

At one point when I was an immigrant to the UK, I thought the British bank accounts were not good compared to the country I came from.

If you meet certain conditions for various Spanish bank accounts then you will find they do not inccur charges but most British immigrants in Spain do not meet these conditions. We did our research like you have done and found Openbank to offer us the most functionality & variety of options (eg. investment tool, discounts on purchases, competitions etc)

If you read the N26 account conditions you will find that you can't do much with the free account (eg. limited atm withdrawals per month), check the comparison function on the their website of what the various accounts they offer in order to see just how little you get.

 

Thread: Bank Charges

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16 Feb 2021 9:23 AM:

Hi nicbax

We have not transferred money directly from the UK to Openbank, we have always done it via Revolut as we get a better exchange rate and no fees. (below the value of €6000.00 per month)

I can only assume that post brexit there will be fees for transfers from UK direct to Spain.

 

This message was last edited by neatrees on 16/02/2021.
Thread: Bank Charges

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13 Feb 2021 4:09 PM:

There is a online only bank called OpenBank (part of Santander). I do all my banking via an app on my phone or via my laptop. There are no charges. 

You get one free debit card with the account which we haved used not only in Spain but without charge in the rest of the EU euro areas to make payments.

You can use Santander ATMs for cash withdrawals free of charge.

We are happy with the service we have received, even goit some issues sorted via whatsapp in english.

https://www.openbank.es/en

 

This message was last edited by neatrees on 13/02/2021.
Thread: Bank Charges

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