My rent bounced twice in one month because the landlord's payment system rejected my Wise IBAN. Not fraud. Not insufficient funds. Just software that refused to accept anything without ES at the front.

That was the week I stopped trying to be clever with one account and set up two on purpose: one Spanish IBAN that landlords and Hacienda accept without blinking, and one cross-border account that handles salary and FX without eating fees. Not elegant. Works.

If you are landing on the Costa with foreign income, here is the setup that keeps your operational rails clean.

Spain's direct debit rails expect Spanish IBANs. Your salary lands in GBP, USD, or EUR from somewhere else. Trying to bend one account to handle both creates constant low-grade stress and occasional disaster.

The pattern that works:

Account one: boring Spanish IBAN
Receives your monthly EUR transfer. Pays rent, utilities, IBI, school fees, and anything that demands a direct debit. Branch access for when software says no to humans.

Account two: cross-border FX
Receives salary in your actual currency. Holds multiple currencies. Converts to EUR at real rates with transparent fees. Moves money to Spain when you tell it to, not before.

You are not trying to optimize banking. You are renting infrastructure, so your operational life does not come to a halt.

For the Spanish IBAN:

Option A — build a branch relationship
BBVA Marbella Centro (Calle Ricardo Soriano 72) or Banco Sabadell Solbank, Benalmadena (Av. Antonio Machado), both handle non-resident accounts without demanding you buy three products you do not need. Monthly fee around €10-15. Mobile app from this decade. Book cita previa — appointment online, show up with passport, NIE or TIE, proof of address, and proof of income.

Option B — Go online first, make your inner introvert happy
N26 Spain or Revolut Spain now issue proper Spanish IBANs with app-based onboarding. Still need Spanish address proof and ID. No branch, but support responds within 24 hours. Monthly fee €5-8.

Both work. Pick based on whether you value in-person support or speed.

For cross-border FX:

Wise for most transfers. Real exchange rate, €3-8 per transfer, depending on the amount. Holds GBP, USD, and EUR in separate pots. The app works, and transfers clear within 24 hours. For amounts over €50,000, call your home bank anyway — sometimes their FX desk beats Wise at volume.

Revolut, if you already use their Premium tier. Similar rates to Wise, occasionally better on GBP/EUR. Metal tier (€13.99/month) includes fee-free transfers up to certain limits.

Both work; I use Wise, but it was just a coin toss of a choice. Pick one and stop thinking about it.

Block one hour. No more.

0-10 minutes: Pick your Spanish IBAN option. If you're a branch, find the nearest location on Google Maps and book a cita previa online. If online: start the app flow and stop at document upload.

10-25 minutes: Gather documents. Passport, NIE/TIE, proof of address (lease or utility bill within three months), proof of income (payslip or contract). Scan everything. You will reuse this pile for schools, insurance, and Hacienda.

25-35 minutes: Complete account application. Branch: Attend appointment, sign papers. Card arrives in 7-10 days. Online: upload documents, pass a video check, and receive a virtual card immediately. A physical card will be sent in 5-7 days.

35-50 minutes: Open Wise or Revolut. Upload the same documents. Verify identity. Add €20 from the existing card to activate.

50-60 minutes: Move one bill to the new Spanish IBAN. Rent first. Then utilities. Then insurance. One at a time. Every change risks a typo.

If you already covered autónomo — self-employed registration in the 29 October issue, you know about IBAN discrimination and the SEPA counter script. This is simpler. For remote employees who need their operational rails to work without drama.

Once accounts are live, treat currency conversion like any recurring process. Do not improvise every transfer.

Set a rule: Convert monthly on the same day (25th works), or quarterly if burn rate is predictable, or when GBP/EUR moves more than 2% in your favor. Pick one rule. Stop rethinking it.

Ring-fence tax: Create a Wise or Revolut pot labeled "Spain tax and bills." Move 35% of every payment into it. Do not touch it for dinners or flights. April and October do not negotiate.

Track only what matters: Log exchange rate and fee paid. Ignore everything else. If you spend more than five minutes per month on FX admin, your process is broken.

Owners: Use Spanish IBAN for IBI, community fees, and notarized payments. Keep a one-page bank summary in the house file, along with the title deeds and insurance policy. If you plan to finance works or future purchases, maintain at least one traditional bank relationship — mortgages still live in branches.

Retirees: Ensure the account receiving your pension is accessible if you are traveling, unwell, or managing a crisis. If you share finances, both adults should be aware of the login credentials and the location of the physical card.

Boring infrastructure. Boring is the point.

¿Emiten factura con CIF?
Do you issue an invoice with a tax ID?

Quisiera abrir una cuenta de no residente.
I want to open a non-resident account.

Keep both on your phone. When dealing with banks in the next two weeks, you’ll use them, guaranteed.

If you would like a one-pager with specific bank details, a document checklist, and a bill-transfer sequence, please reply with your IBAN.

If you want the FX playbook with monthly conversion rules and when to call broker instead of using Wise, reply FX.

Both are formatted so that you can hand them to a partner, EA, or VA without having to explain the entire setup again.

See you on the paseo — A. and the rest of the slightly sober Waypoint Sur team.