Is it illegal to refuse cash in Spain?

Last year, new rules in Spain also went into effect, making it illegal for retailers to refuse cash payments, while U.K. lawmakers pushed for legal protections that would guarantee access to cash and in-person banking services in underserved areas, in response to a massive wave of branch closures across the country.



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In Spain you can pay in cash in almost all cases, and usually only Euros are accepted. In some cases, if the payment is made through a machine, it may be necessary to pay by card. The option to pay with credit and debit cards, mainly Visa and Mastercard, is very widespread.

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Flying with a large amount of cash on a flight is not illegal. Nevertheless, bringing cash to the airport increases the chance it will be seized for a civil asset forfeiture proceeding during a search and detention.

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€100 per day is still not a huge amount but you can probably get by on it. You should perhaps read up on free stuff to do during the day and not plan on paying to go inside too many tourist attractions.

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Under post-Brexit rules, Spanish border officials can ask travellers to show that they have 'economic resources' to cover the cost of their trip. This amounts to €100 for each day of their trip. They must also possess a minimum of €900 for their whole stay.

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So how much cash can you fly with? You can fly with any amount of cash. No law prohibits you from bringing any amount of money on a flight. Likewise, TSA has no rules that limit how much money you can bring through security.

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Even though it is technically not illegal to travel with large amounts of cash, it is definitely suspicious to many law enforcement officers. Carrying a large amount of cash can result in asset forfeiture and seizure, even if you are not arrested for an offense.

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Tipping in Spain works differently: The customer actually has the option to not leave any tip at all. However, restaurants expect a 10% tip on each bill—although it's not a formal rule, and that percentage is much lower than tipping practices in other countries.

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Cash is usually withdrawn from automatic teller machines at bank branches. In addition, in Spain it is easy to find ATMs to withdraw cash in shopping centres and shopping areas, large urban centres and historic centres in small towns.

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Money and credit cards are best carried round in a money belt. For other small items simply carry around an ordinary-looking day bag this way no one can tell what is in the bag. Keep valuables out of sight whenever you can.

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