Talk Quesada forum

hello,
just a quick question. I am renting in dona pepa for 3 months from jan 1st and was wondering about exchanging money. Do all atm,s have a charge and if so how much. and if this is the case, would it be better to bring english money and go to the money exchange shop in quesada high street(which is commission free and i think generally has a favourable exchange rate)
thanks
keith

If you have not got a Spanish bank account, the most economical way to pay for goods and services is with your UK credit card. Limit your cash spending to buying goods and services where they will not accept a card. Most supermarkets, shops and restaurants will allow payment by card as do the local councils for payments of local rates and taxes. IMHO of course.
If you use your credit card in an ATM you will be charged around 3% of the amount withdrawn and also accrue interest from day 1. If you use a UK debit card in an ATM you will be charged a lower percentage but will also incur a small fixed fee. If you use an independent or non bank ATM then the charges will be higher.
You may want to consider the many charge cards that you can top up online such as Revolut.

https://travelfree.info/best-free-debit-cards-for-travellers/

One idea might be to open a Santander account in the UK and get their cash card. I think I am right in saying they do not charge any fee for drawing Euros from their own Spanish ATM’s. If you pay for goods with a debit or credit card, then I do not think there is any advantage in having a Santander account. The banks charge their own rate of exchange and also around £3 transaction fee. That is not so bad if you are buying something for several hundred Euros, but if you are just spending a few Euros then that is a lot of money.
We have a place in Quesada we use for a few months a year and we have a monthly transfer of money to our Sabadell account. We also buy some Euros before we travel and then draw cash from the Santander ATM in Quesada if we are running short.

We live here and often use our UK credit card more now. it saves bringing money over from the UK, you normally get a good exchange rate too as long as you opt for EUR when paying.

open a bank account , tranfer money in from transferwise at 2 cents below bank rate of the day €6.50 on 1000, then have your bills paid by bank. i believe bankia are very good or santander es.

santander uk and es are not the same bank tho they offer interest on your balance 123acc.

thanks for the info people,

We only use our Halifax Clarity Credit card in Spain as we always pay in euros and the rate is always very good. No transaction charges on foreign use at all.

One option to consider is to get a Revolut card (look it up on Google) You transfer pounds on it from your bank account and then use it like a Visa card when in Spain. There’s no charge and you get an excellent rate. Also you can draw cash from an ATM.

Transferwise borderless account - brilliant!

https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless/

thanks to everyone for taking the time to post a reply. Much appreciated. Will do some research on advice given
thanks
keith