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The legal currency of Spain is the euro. You may take with you the money you
feel you will need on your trip. However, despite the fact that all restrictions
on the movement of capital within the Union have been abolished, Member States
can demand, for administrative and statistical purposes, that you declare the
money you are carrying with you when you enter or depart from their territory.
Member States that use this faculty have fixed limits, above which it is
obligatory to declare the quantities which have been transferred. At present, it
is not necessary to declare the sums transferred to Spain. In practice, these
limits correspond to quantities which are higher than those the majority of
travellers will be carrying with them on short term trips. Despite this,
however, the fixed amounts for national legislation can vary greatly from
country to country. So, if you are likely to carry a large sum of money, before
leaving you should get information on the limit applied in the country of
destination to find out whether it must be declared. In Spain, you can transfer
up to €6,000 in cash.
Apart from the money you wish to carry with you, you can also transfer any
money you could need on your trip to another country within the Union.
If you wish to transfer a significant amount from one bank to another within
the Union, you should take into account that banks in certain countries may ask
you for information for statistical purposes. The situation is similar should
you use an intermediary other than a bank, such as the post office.
On the other hand, national authorities are entitled to make checks if they
suspect that transfers of funds are connected to criminal activities
(money-laundering transactions, for example).
Cross border payments
Thanks to new EU rules, the cost of using money abroad is coming down.
Withdrawing euro from a cash machine or making card payments in euro (up to €12,500)
now costs approximately the same wherever you are in the EU, and the same
applies to euro transfers (up to €12,500) between bank accounts, although
commission may vary between different banking organisations.
Text last edited on: 06/2006
Source: European Union
© European Communities
Reproduction is authorised.
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