ATM in Spain

I'd go in knowing you will only be making ONE visit to any ATM. I'd also first verify if your US bank has a Spain or Portugal no-fee partner bank, and know your US bank rules - ie some refund fees for X transactions per month/statement period.

Then, with that info, I'd just aim for hitting the ATM that matched the best mix of rules and convenience. I'd bet a Banco Santander is a bank you'll see scattered about Spain, so could use their ATMs safely and for reasonable fees.

For my past half-dozen or more trips to Europe, I've been returning with the same or ever so slightly less Euros than I arrived with. With mostly city trips of late, cash has become a non-issue and almost everything is on a CC at this point.

If you can come up with some leftover Euros from prior trips, you probably will not need any "new" Euros from an ATM.

Different ATMs do not offer different "Exchange Rates" for an ATM cash withdrawal. The exchange rate is set by the network handling the exchange, which for nearly all US cards is Visa and about 1%.

Your bank may charge an out of network fee, and maybe even a foreign transaction fee, so check with your card first.

The ATM may also charge a fee, even the MultiBanco, which is a third party network for Portuguese banks often charges a fee, typically a few euro. In Spain, depending on the bank, fees will range from nothing, on up to as much as 7 or 8 euro. If you see a fee you do not like, cancel the transaction and move on. But paying a few euro is typical and not a large sum in the big picture if you need cash.

You will regularly see offers for Direct Currency Conversion (DCC). Google it, but basically, always choose to do the transaction in euros, and decline any conversion.

Finally, you should not need an ATM or cash much. Have 50-100 euro on you, replenish as needed, but you could go most of your trip not needing cash, just a contactless enabled credit card.

Who gets the fee charged for DCC?

Brad

The bank paying out the money, and it is not a fee, it is their imposed exchange rate. Even if your bank refunds ATM fees, you cannot recover this form your bank.

Who gets the fee charged for DCC?

Basically the firm that owns the ATM or POS device if in a store or restaurant. Basically they are handling the currency exchange, it likely costs them something, but I can only assume they come out pretty good. The rates I have seen run from 3-4%, on up to 10% or or maybe more.

There is some debate to what extent the merchant themselves benefits, many like to think they are in on it and are out to get you. In my experience I have not seen that, most waiters, front desk people, and merchants have told me to select euros as opposed to Dollars, never had anyone insist that DCC would be better.

Also have always wondered how this could ever be beneficial, but we all (US, Canada) get excellent terms through our networks, there may very well be people from other countries, with lesser banking systems, that do benefit from DCC over exchanging cash or letting their card issuer handle the exchange.

Just returned from Spain a week or so ago. We got €100 at an ATM upon arrival…because I was anxious about needing cash. Not so. We would have been fine with only our chip credit card. We managed to spend most of the Euros but getting cash was unnecessary.

This is very useful! Going to Spain next week (haven't been in Europe since pre-COVID) and assumed I'd be using a lot of cash.

I have a travel debit card (with a chip) - are these widely accepted, as credit cards?

I have a travel debit card (with a chip)

I assume you are speaking of one of those prepaid cards? Maybe a debit card from your bank?

If the card is Visa or Mastercard logo, then you are probably fine. If a prepaid card, verify with the issuer that it is valid in Europe, not all are, most are intended for use in the US.

One could argue the cost effectiveness of a prepaid card vs just using your Credit card or a Debit card for cash withdrawal, but not the point here.

Regardless, I never travel with just one card, I have 2-3 ATM/Debit cards, and 2-3 Credit cards, all of which I know work in Europe from previous trips. In addition, those cards are split up into different places, between pocket, Neck Pouch, and deep security in my main luggage.

Thanks Paul! It's a bank debit, with a Visa logo. I'll have back up cards as well, but this one will let me skip the foreign transaction fees. And great idea to split them up!

When I get to Spain, I use an ATM close to my hotel, usually a BBVA ATM. I withdraw what I think I will need for the trip in one transaction instead of many smaller ones. My regular small credit union debit card works just fine. They don't partner with anyone and there is no fee, anyway.