Send money to Spain
See today's live rates — and exactly what your recipient receives, after every fee.
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Today's best rates to Spain
As of 27 July 2026, sending £1,000 to Spain, your recipient gets the most with Currencies Direct: 1,169.80 EUR, the best of 7 providers compared.
| Provider | Rate | Fee | Recipient gets | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.1698 0.16% worse | £0 | 1,169.80 EUR | 1–3 days | Send | |
1.1698 0.16% worse | £0 | 1,169.80 EUR | 1–3 days | Send | |
1.1697 0.17% worse | £0 | 1,169.70 EUR | Within 2 days | Send | |
1.1682 0.30% worse | £0 | 1,168.19 EUR | Within 2 days | Send | |
1.1701 0.14% worse | £3.88 | 1,165.53 EUR | Within 2 days | Send | |
1.1651 0.56% worse | £0 | 1,165.10 EUR | 1–2 days | Send | |
1.1389 2.80% worse | £0 | 1,138.87 EUR | Up to 4 days | Send |
Spain is the most popular destination for UK money transfers to continental Europe — driven by second-home owners, retirees, freelancers with Spanish clients, and families supporting relatives who've relocated. Whatever the reason, how much actually arrives in euros depends far more on which provider you use than most people realise: the gap between a UK high-street bank and a specialist is typically 2–4 percentage points of the whole transfer. On £10,000 that's the difference between losing around £50 and losing £300+ to exchange-rate mark-up alone. And yes — Spain uses the IBAN, so paying into a Spanish account is straightforward.
How to send money to Spain from the UK
There are three practical ways to move money from the UK to a Spanish bank account. They differ less in whether the money arrives — nearly all methods succeed — and more in how much of it survives the exchange rate.
Bank transfer
The most familiar option — and consistently the most expensive. Banks typically apply a margin of 2–4% above the mid-market rate, plus a fee of £0–£25+. On £10,000, a 3% margin alone costs around £300 before any fee.
Money-transfer provider
Specialists — Wise, Moneycorp, XE, Currencies Direct, TorFX — exist to beat bank rates. Margins run 0.5–2%, often under 1% for larger sums, and brokers will negotiate above ~£5,000–£10,000. On £10,000 a 0.5% margin costs around £50.
App or prepaid card
Apps like Wise and Revolut double as spending tools; cards lock the rate when you load them. For a pure transfer into a Spanish bank account rather than spending money, a dedicated provider usually beats a card.
What you need to send money to Spain
Spanish bank details and IBANs
Spain is part of SEPA (the Single Euro Payments Area), so every Spanish account uses an IBAN — 24 characters, starting "ES". You'll need the recipient's full name and their IBAN; some providers also ask for the bank's BIC/SWIFT code to route the payment. Double-check the IBAN character-by-character — a single wrong digit is one of the most common causes of a delayed or rejected transfer.
ID checks and verification
UK providers are legally required to verify who you are before processing a payment (Know Your Customer, under the Money Laundering Regulations). For a first transfer or a modest amount, expect to provide your name, address and date of birth, plus a photo ID and proof of address. Transfers above roughly £8,000–£10,000 commonly trigger extra scrutiny — see source-of-funds checks below.
How long does it take to send money to Spain?
Once your money is converted to euros, it travels inside Europe on the SEPA network. You don't choose the rail — the provider does — but it helps to know what the names mean.
Delays are usually caused by one of: missing the provider's daily cut-off, first-time identity verification, weekends or bank holidays in the UK or Spain, or an incorrect IBAN or recipient name.
Fees and exchange rates for UK to Spain
Fees range from £0 (many specialists on standard transfers) to £25+ (bank branch payments). A flat fee is easy to compare — the exchange-rate margin usually isn't, which is why it matters more. Here's where the cost hides.
The exchange-rate margin
The real cost of most transfers. Banks: 2–4% above the mid-market rate. Specialists: typically 0.5–2%, often under 1% for larger amounts. On £10,000+ the gap is routinely £200–£300.
Correspondent-bank fees
SWIFT wires can pass through intermediary banks, each deducting a cut en route — so the recipient gets less than expected. Specialists using local euro payments usually avoid this entirely.
Card & weekend markups
Watch for ~3% foreign-transaction fees on standard UK debit/credit cards, and weekend or out-of-hours markups on some apps. Judge an offer by the euros that arrive, not the headline fee.
Sending money to Spain to buy property
British buyers are consistently the largest group of foreign property buyers in Spain — 5,731 purchases in the first half of 2025 alone — concentrated on the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Murcia, and the Balearic and Canary Islands. A Spanish purchase moves through distinct, notary-led stages, and money changes hands at each one.
Reservation deposit
Contrato de reserva — typically €3,000–€6,000, paid to hold the property while your lawyer runs initial checks.
Private purchase contract
Contrato de arras — usually 10% of the price. Pull out after signing and you forfeit it; if the seller pulls out, they owe you double.
Completion at the notary
Escritura pública — the remaining 90%, usually by banker's draft from a Spanish account, in front of a notary who verifies the deed.
You'll need an NIE (a Spanish tax ID) before any of this, and in practice a Spanish bank account too. Budget an extra 10–15% on top of the price for transfer tax (7–10% by region), notary and land-registry fees (1–2.5%), and legal fees (1–1.5%).
Lock in today's euro rate with a forward contract
The gap between agreeing a price and paying the balance is typically one to three months — plenty of time for GBP/EUR to move enough to change the sterling cost by thousands. A forward contract lets you fix today's exchange rate now and pay for the currency later, usually with a small deposit up front. Because a Spanish purchase involves at least two payments — the 10% deposit, then the 90% balance — some buyers convert in stages rather than all at once.
So if a big euro completion is some way off, ask about a forward contract before you exchange.
Is it safe to send money to Spain?
Any UK company handling money transfers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and must keep customer money in accounts fully segregated from its own ("safeguarding"). Before using an unfamiliar provider, it takes thirty seconds to check the FCA Register. The bigger risk on a property purchase is fraud — these rules are worth knowing before you move any large sum.
Completion-day payment diversion
Rule: criminals hack or spoof lawyer, notary or agent emails and send bogus "our bank details have changed" instructions just before payment. Always confirm the account by phone on a number you already had — never one from the email.
Off-plan deposit protection
Rule: for off-plan property, insist on a bank guarantee (aval bancario) protecting your deposit, and never pay before your own lawyer has verified ownership at the Land Registry.
"Better rate" cold-call / clone firm
Rule: a firm that calls out of the blue with an unbeatable rate may be a clone of a real one. Check it on the FCA Register and call back on the number listed there, not the one you were given.
Check the firm is regulated
Rule: FCA-authorised firms must keep your money separate from their own, so it's protected if the firm fails. Look the firm up on register.fca.org.uk before you commit.
Report fraud: Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101).
Tax on money sent to Spain
Moving your own money
Sending your own, already-taxed money from the UK to Spain is not a UK taxable event — there's no tax simply for transferring it. There's no fixed UK reporting threshold for electronic transfers, but larger transfers commonly trigger a source-of-funds check. Keep the paperwork that shows where the money came from.
Watch-out: gifts and Spanish taxes
If it's a gift, it can affect UK Inheritance Tax on your estate if you die within seven years. Spain's own taxes on owning property there — local tax, non-resident imputed income tax, wealth tax above €700,000 — are separate from the transfer itself. If you're buying, take professional advice.
How do most people move money to Spain?
For most second-home owners, retirees and families, the cheapest route is a specialist currency company paying euros straight into a Spanish bank account by SEPA transfer — not a high-street bank. For a one-off move, a spot deal is fine; for a property completion or other known future payment, a forward contract to lock the rate is what sets the specialists apart. Whichever you choose, judge it by the euros that actually arrive — and confirm the receiving account by phone before you send.
Frequently asked questions about sending money to Spain
It depends almost entirely on the exchange-rate margin, not the flat fee. A UK bank typically costs 2–4% of your transfer in a worse rate; a specialist typically costs 0.5–2%. On £10,000, that's roughly £200–£300 with a bank versus £50–£150 with a specialist provider.
A specialist money-transfer provider using or close to the mid-market rate, rather than a UK high-street bank. Compare the total cost (fee plus exchange-rate margin) for your specific amount using the table above, since some providers are cheaper for smaller amounts and others for larger ones.
Yes. Every Spanish account uses an IBAN — 24 characters, starting "ES" — and it's mandatory for any SEPA transfer into Spain. Some providers also request the bank's BIC/SWIFT code. Always check the IBAN against details your recipient sent in writing.
As fast as under 10 seconds for SEPA Instant between supporting banks, or 1–2 business days for a standard SEPA transfer. Bank wires outside SEPA rails can take 2–5 business days. On large sums, the checks before the money leaves are usually what takes longest.
Yes, and it's a large enough transaction to do properly: use an FCA-authorised provider, consider a forward contract to lock your rate once you have a completion date, and have your source-of-funds documentation ready early. You'll need an NIE, and in practice a Spanish bank account for the final banker's draft.
Not for sending your own money — that's not a taxable event in the UK. Gifting money can have UK Inheritance Tax implications if you die within seven years. Spain's own property and income taxes are separate and apply to what you do with the money after it arrives, not the transfer itself.
Our sources & how we keep this current
Last updated: July 2026. The live rates above refresh automatically, and we review the rest of this guide every month — updating it whenever the rules on payments, tax or regulation change.