SPAIN info: Money and cards, tips, telephone, languages, documentation, business hours...

[alserrod]

Just now, 9265359 said:

 

Not if you have a Santander account, even a non-Spanish Santander account, when withdrawals are fee free and with no exchange rate loading.

 

 

I agree

I have a Santander bank account in Spain.

They operate in Spain, UK, Portugal and Poland (in Europe, plus other countries in America).

 

If you go to a foreing ATM and you ask for money it is not a withdraw but a shopping where you have to pay the fee.

Santander doesn't apply their fee to their own cards.

 

In other words. Last summer I was in Portugal. If I used my Santander card in an ATM and asked for money I had a new operation in my credit card balance but without any fee.

 

Anyway, I would recommend to ask your bank.

In most of them there will be no differences

 

 

[9265359]

13 minutes ago, alserrod said:

If you go to a foreing ATM and you ask for money it is not a withdraw but a shopping where you have to pay the fee.

 

That isn't the case with UK banks - all cash withdrawals are treated as cash withdrawals irrespective of where they are made.

 

The difference is that the T&Cs of the accounts might allow for a fee to be charged by the bank and will specify the basis of the exchange rate used, and those fees and exchange rates might be different whether it is a cash withdrawal or a purchase, and also differs between credit cards and debit cards.

 

Thus you can have both a fee charged by the bank for making a cash withdrawal from foreign ATM plus a fee charged by the ATM itself and if you are not careful and exchange rate 'fee' as well.

 

As for the fee charged by the foreign ATM, the bank makes clear that is nothing at all to do with them - I have an account with First Direct and they are explicit that they make no charges for foreign ATM withdrawals but they are very clear (and it is my experience) that most foreign ATMs still impose their own fees and those fees vary wildly.

[alserrod]

About passport control in any Spanish port.

 

If the ship has made a route with origin and destination in any country in the Schengen zone, THERE IS NO PASSPORT CONTROL upon departure or entry into Spain. If the ship makes a stopover in a non-Schengen area, the police of the country of the port of call will carry out its controls.

 

Keep in mind that the vast majority of cruises in Spain are within Schengen zone countries.
Some exceptions
- Barcelona - Istanbul
- Barcelona - Miami
- Barcelona - Rio de Janeiro
- Barcelona - Southampton

If you look closely, all of them are Grand Voyages, cruises that will last 2 weeks or more and are very unusual.

 

The rest of the cruises that pass through Spanish ports (ports of the peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands) originate in a port of another country in the Schengen zone, which makes disembarkation much easier.

 

I insist, THERE IS NO PASSPORT CONTROL.

 

A ship that comes from France and arrives in Spain has a passport control similar to this
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4350185,3.1595415,3a,75y,152.3h,76.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEcb8l8jFvel8h80F0dHFzQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry =ttu
(border road between France and Spain next to the Mediterranean), that is, none.

 

It doesn't matter what nationality you have. For all purposes, a trip within the Schengen zone is a "domestic trip."

[alserrod]

1 hour ago, SusieV said:

 

I'm sorry, I literally have no idea- I don't mean to be difficult. I have an iPhone 13.

 

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

Yes an iPhone 13 takes eSIMS.

 

With these apps such as Airalo (there are many) you simply download the app form the Apple App store, open the app, select which location you are in, how much data you want, and for how long, pay for it and it installs an eSIM and then you then need to select that eSIM from the normal sim that is in the phone.

 

It is easier than buying a physical SIM provided that you are familiar with installing apps and selecting an eSIM.

 

 

 

Hi, I was talking about having something like this

 

https://www.movistar.es/tarifas-moviles/prepago/plus/

 

This is Movistar, the main phone company in Spain and other countries but surely you will find also by Orange, Vodafone and some other company that operates.

 

They accept esim (I do not know how to buy but they accept)

 

It is a prepaid card for 10 euro. If you do not pay another 10 euro within 4 weeks it would expire 

- unlimited phone calls to Spanish numbers

- 200 minutes for phone calls to several countries incluiding USA and Canada

- up to 40 Gb for phone data (they say normally 10 Gb but they have a promotion up to 40 Gb). Out of Spain (within European union) you can use only up to 6 Gb of those 40GB

 

So, you can buy it in Spain and operates in any European country.

 

 

As said, it was only one option from one company. There are more ones with these promotional prices.

 

Surely cheaper than if you buy a data bonus in your company.

 

You will operate with your own phone and a different number. For whatsapp you may choose among changing your phone number (one relative did it some years ago when travelling. Same profile, different number because it was another country), or installing whatsapp-business with same profile and operate with it in the Spanish number.