You said in your first post that the bank wouldn't allow you to open a resident account but wanted you to open a non resident account so presumably they must have required something more than your TIE? I am assuming from what you said that it related in some way to the information you gave them concerning your tax situation. You obviously can open an account as a resident without having made a declaration because you haven't completed a full tax year but somewhere in the documents you sign there is something pertaining to tax. If you stated you don't pay tax in spain then that is why they said you could only open a non resident account.

Actually the banks seem to be lost as to what to do.

The situation is that I arrived mid-July, so I'll be less than 183 days in Spain and therefore (as I understand it) tax resident in the UK for this year.
But I arrived on a tourist visa so needed to apply for residency immediately, which I did, successfully.

So I'm resident but not tax-resident.

The banks can open an account for you if you're tax-resident in Spain, and they can open one for you if you are non-resident, but they have no clue what to do if you are resident but not tax-resident.

And I'm about to buy a house so I need an account in Spain.

If you are buying a house then surely your solicitor will help?

You are getting confused . There is no tourist visa. Looking at your flag you arrived as a UK nat and as a visitor. You then appear to have got a TIE without a residency visa which you would have only have got in uk not Spain ( unless you were applying as a dependent/ married to Span nat) . Are you sure you have a TIE and are not a NIE? In fact, the more I think about it the less sense it makes. How could you get a TIE without a bank account already. You need a NIE which normally entails an address and a bank. Secondly how do you pay for things like IBI, electricity, water without a Spanish account.? . There is no separation between a tax resident and resident - as far a day to day life is concerned and that is how the banks and the hacienda see things. I dont understand why you cant get a resident account if you have your TIE? Some where along the line you must have told them that you dont pay tax in Spain and therefore they wont give you a resident account. As far as they are concerned you are trying to play the system - ie get a cheaper resident account whilst similarly saying you don't have your centre of financial interest in Spain- Spain has very strict banking laws due to widespread fraud, money laundering and tax avoidance ( everyone remembers the caja B scenario where banks shielded money from the tax man) You need to go to the bank and talk to them but it sounds like at the moment you are confusing them by saying you aren't not a tax resident ( which you are, even though you haven't paid any). All in all it sounds strange. Do you have an account? If not how do pay for stuff? Where do you live etc? Is someone else paying everything ( partner?) Either you are confused or being a bit sly

So I should say to the bank that I am, in fact, tax resident in Spain?

TBH I don't know . As in my edited post above. What do you mean tourist visa? No such thing exists. How did you get a TIE if you didn't already have NL visa from uk embassy in London or Edinburgh? And surely you had a Spanish account already in order to normally have been given a NIE to get a TIE. Then it begs the question who is paying your electricity, water, IBI if you don't already have an account?

So to be clear cruchifrog( great name). You don't have a Spanish account but have lived here for nearly 4 months. You want to buy a house. You have a TIE card that you acquired without having a Visa. If you have a TIE you have a NIE.
Now you said you came on a tourist visa- no such thing exists for UK nats- maybe you mean you came on a NL visa which is what most Brits will use. With this you got a TIE. However, it doesn't explain how you have a Spanish address without some kind of bank account- as even renting normally means registering for electricity and water. Also do you not use a Spanish mobile or Internet? - both require Spanish IBAN numbers..
So how are you managing to live in Spain without a bank account?

In a previous thread CrunchyFr0g got a reply from growinspain who posted this: Def find a lawyer for the business plan as it might be cheaper to leave the ltd in place and open a satellite office in Spain and work from that. So what did the lawyer say?

Not sure that post is relevant to this one? Unless you are suggesting that the tax situation relates to UK business in which case it could muddy the waters

Okay Cruncifrog. I saw your previous posts and understand better your situation. You are married to Spanish nat so gained residency on back of that. However, it looks as if you have a slightly complicated tax situation due to having a registered UK company. I also imagine this is the reason you are keen not to be a Spanish tax payer for this year as it would mean CGT would be due. I imagine that this is the reason you aren't able to open a Spanish resident account as at somepoint you must have indicated that you don't want to be seen as a Spanish tax payer and therefore the bank won't process you as a resident. Best thing to do is open a non-tesident account now and then in January change it to a resident account.