Hi,

I’m a student and am moving to Malaga in August for a year-long work placement as part of my degree course. I was just hoping to get some advice on a few issues.

1) Bank account - I’m currently considering a few options, but would like any tips on the best one.
- I could either upgrade my UK account to one which doesn’t incur charges for withdrawing money abroad (but does carry some charges for using my card to pay in shops etc, and costs ?10 a month).
- I could get a card from MyTravelCash and use that, reloading it as required from my UK bank account.
- I could attempt to open a Spanish bank account, however I do not really know the ins and outs of doing this - would it even be possible?

The only reason I’d prefer a Spanish bank account is because I am getting paid in Euros and will be paying my rent etc in Euros to another Spanish account.

2) Learning the language - I’m currently self-teaching myself Spanish and hope to have a grasp of most of the basics by the time I move to Spain. But I’m also considering doing a language course while in Spain - if anyone has any recommendations for good language courses in Malaga that would be helpful (I do have a limited budget though!).

3) Mobile phone - I’m intending to just use my phone (unlocked) and get a Spanish sim card. Are there any good ones you’d recommend? Any good PAYG deals? If possible, I’d like a sim with cheap international texts/calls and maybe some mobile internet too - I know there’s plenty of UK sims which offer deals on things like this but are there any Spanish ones?

Any general advice and tips would also be greatly appreciated. Are there any things that its absolutely vital I do before moving to Spain or in my first few weeks there? Literally anything will be helpful!

Thanks in advance 😊

Bank account you can get one here in spain , two kinds of bank accounts exist for international clients: cuenta para residentes (for customers with a Spanish residence permit , about 5 pounds per month ,

Learning the language list to some radio if you can

RNE Radio Nacional   Madrid News/information/features
RNE Radio Cl?sica   Madrid Classical/cultural programming
RNE Radio 3   Madrid   News/music for young people
RNE R?dio 4   Barcelona   News/music/features (Catalan)
RNE Radio 5 Todo Noticias   Madrid   News
Radio Exterior

all radio is on the right hand side off the site http://www.rtve.es/radio/ r http://www.rtve.es/radio/endirecto/
all so on Apple iphone app via there website
tve1 la2 tvei again on there websitre and apps http://www.rtve.es/television/

Mobile phone will a one year phone contracts would end out to be cheaper in the long run , ( is you phone a data eatter , do you surf , FB , net emails , skpye and so on ?) are just calls and texts ?
here a list

Spain

Spain has 54.52 million subscribers in total, or a 112.5% penetration rate.

The Regulatory Authority for telecommunication in Spain is CMT (Comisi?n del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones)

1   Movistar   GSM
    Telef?nica has 99% coverage
2   Vodafone   GSM, Vodafone has 99% coverage
3   Orange   GSM   France T?l?com (81.6%)
4   Yoigo   TeliaSonera (76.6%)
Mobile Virtual Network Operators this companys used the top 4 networks
5   Simyo (via Orange)    GSM
6   Euskaltel (via Vodafone)    GSM
7   Lebara Mobile (using Vodafone)
8   Digi.Mobil (using Movistar)    GSM
9   Pepephone (using Vodafone)   
10   Carrefour Mobile (using Orange)    GSM   N/A   Carrefour
11   BT Mobile (using Vodafone)    GSM
12   ONO M?vil (using Movistar)    GSM
13   m?bilR (using Vodafone)    GSM
14   Telecor (using Movistar)    GSM N/A   El Corte Ingl?s
15   M?Smovil (Using Orange)    GSM M?vil Telecom
16   TeleCable[84] (using Vodafone)    GSM

becarefull what you sing up two here in spain , ( spanish is need in the shop ... )

Jurdy

Thanks Jurdy, some useful info there.

So in terms of getting a bank account in Spain, is it quite straightforward? Am I likely to be accepted and how long would it take (roughly)?

I’ll have a listen to some of those radio stations, I do feel simply listening to the language being spoken helps a lot. I’ll keep those links in mind.

Lastly, I’ll consider a contract for my phone, but I don’t imagine by the time I come to Spain I’ll be ready for full blown conversations so that could be an issue. But I’ll have a look around and probably check online beforehand so I know roughly what the options are. The list of mobile networks you’ve provided should come in handy.

Ben.

i have 23 bank accouts , Euros Pound and Doller , and i can iban money from one account to outher , 3 days , via my online banking , Spanish accout , you up and run once you put money in , and atm card with in 5 - 7 working days , there lot of outher station aswell from music to chr top 40 aswell
los40.com

Hi Ben, you can also ask a gestor in Malaga, he/ she will help you with all kind of documents you need for your new life in Spain, and its cheep. I can recommend you one, if you wish. Good luck!