Oksie

Hi,
I left Spain 6 months ago to go back to England, but I still have a large sum of money in the Spanish account (savings from working there for 2 years).
Does anyone know what the best way to move the money is?

Do money transfers from Spain to UK need to be declared?

I was also thinking of taking it out and just taking cash to the UK but although its less than 10000 euros and I can prove the legitimacy of the money, I don't want risk having the experience of having to explain things to customs whether in the UK or Spain.

I am really confused and desperate, not sure what to do...

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks,
Rox

dfjordan

There are no currency restrictions ir reporting requirements with sending money between Europe and the UK. A bank transfer would be the most convenient, but if you want to take the risk of carrying cash on your person, which is completely legal, you can do that.

missile

If you present circa €10,000 in cash to exchange it will be reported to HMRC and you will be asked to explain the origin - money laundering regulations.

You would be better/ cheaper / safer doing a currency exchange.

rspltd

Sound advice! The other problem would be where you present the money for exchange - you would only be likely to get tourist rate.

cricketman

There is a very simple solution. Use a service such as currencyfair

You simply make a transfer from your Spanish account, and then transfer to your UK acount. And the exchange rate is way better than the bank's normal rate

I have used it a number of times, excellent and really fast. I saved nearly 1k euros on my last transfer! (Now that does sound like an advert)

https://www.currencyfair.com/

coleio

Slightly different view on the matter. I opened Euro account at Dublin Airport bank branch using my UK address (on a daytrip) and so do xfers in Euros, their banking is similar to UK banks and they work in English. The 10k limit is not a problem for legit money. When the exchange rate looks good I can then xfer from Dublin Euros to GBP via a currency exchange broker such as ACE-FX (not the one I use)

Oksie

Thanks.

I am going back there shortly. And am considering an online transfer (bank/currency broker). I am worried that haciendq questions transfers over 2500 euros. Also, I havent been to spain for 6 months... just left in the summer, without tying all the loose ends (deregistering from police, etc)...