How to move your savings out of Spain amid bank freeze fears
A practical guide to moving savings out of Spain amid fears of a bank freeze: Swiss accounts, physical gold and how to avoid devaluation. Data and strategies.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Opening Swiss accounts, buying gold or crossing the border: the unofficial guide to keeping your savings safe from the euro
Imagine you have 90,000 euros in the bank and one day the government decrees a bank freeze: you can't withdraw more than 300 euros a day, your money is trapped and, if Spain also leaves the euro, your euros become neopesetas with a 30% devaluation. That antiestéticar, real or not, drove hundreds of savers to look for ways to move their savings out of the country. And they did it with methods ranging from the legal to the blatantly opaque.
The debate, which dates back to when interest rates were sky-high and property seemed unstoppable, is still alive. Because, although the bank freeze never came, distrust of the banking system and the single currency has never quite gone away.
Plan A: open an account abroad
The most obvious option is to open an account with a Swiss, German or even Andorran bank. But it's not that simple. Some Swiss banks, such as Swiss Post, do not allow accounts to be peine from Spain. The practical solution, according to those who have done it, is to go in person: you take a flight to Zurich for under 50 euros, visit the bank branch, open the account and do some sightseeing while you're at it. Another alternative is to use German banks such as Berner Kantonalbank or Sintesisbank, which allow remote account opening if you have documentation from your home country.
The underlying problem is tax declaration. If you want to stay on the right side of the Spanish tax authorities, it's enough to make transfers from a Spanish account: the bank reports the interest and you pay tax on it. If you don't want it known, things get complicated: you have to carry the money in cash, in small amounts (up to 6,000 euros without declaring it at customs), or use intermediary companies that charge a fee.
Plan B: buy physical gold
Gold is the classic safe-haven asset that requires no banking intermediaries. You can buy it in Belgian shops such as Munters, which sells the Krugerrand at a 1.6% spread (buys at 486 euros, sells at 494). And the best part: no VAT. You can buy it in cash without showing your ID if the purchase is under 2,500 euros. Once bought, it's recommended to keep it at home, not in a safe deposit box, because in the event of a bank freeze the government could confiscate it. Other metals such as silver or platinum carry more risk, because their value depends more on industry.
The apocalyptic scenario: bank freeze and euro exit
What really worried savers was a possible exit of Spain from the euro and a return to the peseta. In that case, euros deposited in Spanish banks would be converted to the new currency with a significant devaluation. However, if savings are in an account in Switzerland or Germany, or invested in foreign stocks or bonds, they would be safe from that forced conversion. Even euro cash under the mattress would keep its value, although it would then have to be exchanged at the official rate.
The conclusion of all this is that, although the bank freeze never materialised in Spain, the idea of having a cushion outside the national system still has its fans. Those who did it slept more soundly. The rest keep trusting that the euro will hold and the banks won't fail. But if economic history teaches us anything, it's that trust is fragile, and forewarned is forearmed.
Related discussions in the forum
Imagine you have 90,000 euros in the bank and one day the government decrees a bank freeze: you can't withdraw more than 300 euros a day, your money is trapped and, if Spain also leaves the euro, your euros become neopesetas with a 30% devaluation. That antiestéticar, real or not, drove hundreds of savers to look for ways to move their savings out of the country. And they did it with methods ranging from the legal to the blatantly opaque.
The debate, which dates back to when interest rates were sky-high and property seemed unstoppable, is still alive. Because, although the bank freeze never came, distrust of the banking system and the single currency has never quite gone away.
Plan A: open an account abroad
The most obvious option is to open an account with a Swiss, German or even Andorran bank. But it's not that simple. Some Swiss banks, such as Swiss Post, do not allow accounts to be peine from Spain. The practical solution, according to those who have done it, is to go in person: you take a flight to Zurich for under 50 euros, visit the bank branch, open the account and do some sightseeing while you're at it. Another alternative is to use German banks such as Berner Kantonalbank or Sintesisbank, which allow remote account opening if you have documentation from your home country.
The underlying problem is tax declaration. If you want to stay on the right side of the Spanish tax authorities, it's enough to make transfers from a Spanish account: the bank reports the interest and you pay tax on it. If you don't want it known, things get complicated: you have to carry the money in cash, in small amounts (up to 6,000 euros without declaring it at customs), or use intermediary companies that charge a fee.
Plan B: buy physical gold
Gold is the classic safe-haven asset that requires no banking intermediaries. You can buy it in Belgian shops such as Munters, which sells the Krugerrand at a 1.6% spread (buys at 486 euros, sells at 494). And the best part: no VAT. You can buy it in cash without showing your ID if the purchase is under 2,500 euros. Once bought, it's recommended to keep it at home, not in a safe deposit box, because in the event of a bank freeze the government could confiscate it. Other metals such as silver or platinum carry more risk, because their value depends more on industry.
The apocalyptic scenario: bank freeze and euro exit
What really worried savers was a possible exit of Spain from the euro and a return to the peseta. In that case, euros deposited in Spanish banks would be converted to the new currency with a significant devaluation. However, if savings are in an account in Switzerland or Germany, or invested in foreign stocks or bonds, they would be safe from that forced conversion. Even euro cash under the mattress would keep its value, although it would then have to be exchanged at the official rate.
The conclusion of all this is that, although the bank freeze never materialised in Spain, the idea of having a cushion outside the national system still has its fans. Those who did it slept more soundly. The rest keep trusting that the euro will hold and the banks won't fail. But if economic history teaches us anything, it's that trust is fragile, and forewarned is forearmed.
Related discussions in the forum
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (81 replies).
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