Hi all,
Iām visiting Barcelona in April. Does anyone have a tips or things to look out for (minus the DCC)?
Thanks
Based on my trip to Madrid, just finishing, expect the unexpected when it comes to using your card in shops
Had decided to use my actual card everywhere as there are so many different form factors for card terminals
Most places had me tap first regardless of value and then lots required PIN (numero secreto) as well. Zara also asked me to sign their receipt to confirm my DCC choice of Euros!
Finally decided to take a crack at Google Pay on my phone at MANGO last night and that was as slick as expected
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When the terminal says āespere por favourā it means wait and advice sticking it out as does get there
When the terminal says ā??? tarjetaā it means remove card - cannot remember the first word
When the terminal says something about ānumero secretoā itās after your normal PIN
This leads to the wonderful status message ānumero secreto correctoā when you get it right - sounds like a spell from Harry Potter
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Thanks for the help! Iāll keep an eye out for a few wizards
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And now they do charge. ā¬1.85 for a ā¬100 withdrawal.
BBVA is free so is Bankinter.
Santander wanted a conversion rate of ā¬0.75 per Ā£1 PLUS a ā¬5 euro ATM fee.
Hi there!, i have a question, i stay in Spain, and i have 2 problems, in a train when i want to pay with my debit card, they say me that i only can pay with magentic band, no contactless, no with pin,.
What can i do? Thank you very much
Were you unable to pay using the magstripe?
If you couldnāt pay that way, you can turn on Magstripe ATMS (i.e. itās more about withdrawing cash from specific ATMs but I guess it might also work here) in the app. Try that.
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I traveling in RENFE, a spanish train services, and in the coffe shop they only have a card reader, The card reader can read the magstripe but the message was āPay not acceptedā
And i canāt activate with any app, or monzo app? Thank you very much
Go into your Monzo app. Click on MANAGE CARD. The option to turn on should be there. It will turn itself off after 7 days (I think) as itās a temporary setting, so you will need to keep an eye on it.
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Just as an update, caixa bank is free for withdrawals, but make sure you do not accept their conversion rate! Enter savings account, say no their conversion and youāre not charged any fee.
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Just back from a trip to Tenerife.
Monzo worked flawlessly there, and certainly makes managing holiday expenses easier.
Banca March ATMs are also free using the above rules.
But avoid Euronet, you can reject their currency conversion but they charge ā¬2.95 if you want to do this. There are plenty of free ATMs around so there is no need to use them.
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Hi Guys,
Iām currently in Tenerife in Los Gigantes and have found myself running a tad low on Euros. Can I just take my monzo card to an atm here and withdraw euros? If so is there anything I need to know before I do?
Thanks
Yes you can (limit of Ā£200 before Monzo charge).
Make sure you decline the ATMās conversion and subsequent warnings about how your bank ācouldā charge you millions of pounds if you donāt take their conversionā¦
They wonāt. This isnāt 2015 
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Used my monzo card in Madrid everywhere I went. Worked perfectly well, there were instances where I was asked if I wanted to pay in pounds or euros. Thanks to the monzo guidelines I paid in euros, I made sure that everything was paid in euros to avoid paying additional fees. I needed to withdraw some cash so I went to BBVA and they charged a ā¬1.87 conversion fee which wasnāt too bad. Santander is a joke, ā¬5 to withdraw money. When travelling to Madrid I recommend using CaixaBank as there are no withdrawal fees.
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Iāve just experienced the ā¬5 Santander ATM charge. First and last time that happens 
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Wouldāve been free if youād had a Santander 123 account. Youāre paying the ā¬5 so I donāt have to. Cheers 
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Youāre welcome 
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