A Guide to Opening a Bank Account in Tenerife

Opening a bank account in Tenerife is relatively straightforward nowadays and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

You may want to consider what your account is for before heading off into the first bank you see. The mortgage rate and hence the savings rates are quite low on the island and so you may need to consider alternative options if you are looking for high interest accounts.

Another obvious consideration may be the fact that you may need to open an account in a branch where you know they can speak English if you haven't yet mastered the Spanish language - so shop around until you can find the right branch.

Other considerations may include internet banking if you want to manage your account via the internet perhaps if you return to the UK/Europe regularly.

The actual opening process is very quick - we opened our first account in less than 10 minutes at our local branch of La Caixa in Las Americas way back in 1994. You will need to take with you your passport and NIE number if you have one. You can still open an account without your NIE but you won't be able to apply for a mortgage without one or at least without having put the application in process. Thats it!

If you intend to open a business account - you will also need to take with you the CIF number, the actual original document and a copy of the Company Simple (company formation contract) if you have a limited company.

Les Calvert runs more than 350 websites on living and working abroad including buying overseas property in more than 46 countries abroad. Check out their main site for more useful info http://www.property-abroad.com