Exchanging money in Spain is easy and follows a similar pattern to elsewhere in southern Europe: banks, bureaux de change and ATMs are your safest bets. Using street vendors is ill-advised and illegal. Banks and bureaux de change tend to close on a Sunday, leaving ATMs as virtually the only place for cash to be obtained.

In larger cities and towns such as Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, bureaux de change are opening for limited trading on Sundays, usually 11:00-15:00, but these are still few and far between.

Some bureaux de change, especially but not exclusively on the Costa del Sol, will appear to offer great rates, but hide the fact that the rate is only applicable when changing large amounts (e.g. €0.60/$1 or €1.24/£1 when exchanging more than $500 or £500, but €0.49/$1 or €1.10/£1 if not).

The best way to get local currency (Euros) is to use a debit card, able to access the Visa, Mastercard, Cirrus or Masetro networks, in an ATM (Interac cannot be used). Usually, the bank rate will be given for exchange rather than the local tourist rate.

The ATM will give the option to charge your account in Euros or your home currency, it is advised to select Euros to obtain the most preferential rate. From the 27 EU countries, Spain has the highest total number of ATMs, so your money is nearly always accessible.