Send money to Spain from Canada
Grey pays out in euro into a Spanish bank account, reached by IBAN. Santander Spain, BBVA Spain, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell are all supported, and transfers from a funded balance typically arrive within minutes over SEPA. The rate and the fee are both on the confirmation screen before you agree to either.
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Two different Canadians send to Spain
The first has family there. Spanish households settled in Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton and Vancouver across two waves of migration, and the money that goes back is ordinary: a parent's pharmacy costs in Galicia, a nephew's rent in Madrid, a share of a funeral in Asturias. The second has a set of keys. Canadians who bought on the Costa Blanca, around Malaga, or in Tenerife own something that costs money whether they are standing in front of it or not.
The two send very differently. Family payments move when something happens. Property payments arrive on a calendar someone else set: the community fee each quarter, the IBI notice from the town hall, the insurance renewal, the bill from the administrador who looks after the building while you are in Ontario.
Grey handles both the same way. Your balance converts once into euro, and euro is what the Spanish bank credits. You enter the IBAN, read the rate and the fee, and confirm. The person or the account at the other end never registers with Grey.
Three steps to a euro payout in Spain
Sign up
A Grey account is free and takes about five minutes to open from your phone. You verify with one valid identity document. No branch, no appointment, nothing mailed out.
Fund
Your Grey balance sits in US dollars, provided by Lead Bank, in pounds or in euro. It is funded by a client, an employer, or a transfer you make from an account you already hold.
Send
Paste the Spanish IBAN, pick euro, and check the rate and fee on the confirmation screen. From a funded balance the euro typically arrives within minutes.
What sending to Spain costs
Spain is in the eurozone, so nothing is converted a second time once the money lands. Euro leaves your balance and euro is credited. That is worth checking on any provider you compare, because routes that send dollars and let a Spanish bank do the conversion put a cost where you cannot see it.
It matters most on payments that repeat. Community fees, an insurance renewal and an IBI bill arrive on a schedule, so a small difference in the rate is not a one-off, it is a subscription. Read the euro figure on the confirmation screen and compare that, not the fee line on its own.
How the euro rate is fixed
The rate shown at confirmation is the rate your transfer uses. It does not move between your tapping send in Calgary and the euro settling in Valencia, and Grey does not revise it once the payout has gone.
That is what lets you tell someone an amount rather than a range. If a builder in Alicante has quoted for work, or a gestoría has asked for a figure by a particular date, the euro on your screen is the euro on their statement.
Grey compared with a Canadian bank wire to Spain
An international wire from RBC, TD Canada Trust, BMO or CIBC to a Spanish account runs through the correspondent network. The wire fee is identical for a quarter's community fees and for the balance on a renovation, the exchange rate is the bank's and is not shown to you in advance, and an intermediary bank can take a slice before the euro arrives. Interac e-Transfer, the thing every Canadian reaches for at home, simply does not leave the country. Grey converts once into euro, shows the rate and the fee first, and credits the Spanish account directly.
What arrives in Spain
Euro, credited to the Spanish account as an ordinary transfer. Your recipient has nothing to collect, nothing to sign up for and no Grey account to open.
Spanish bank accounts
Santander Spain, BBVA Spain, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell are supported. The IBAN is the only routing detail you need to ask for.
Timing
From a funded balance, transfers to Spanish accounts typically arrive within minutes over SEPA. Where the receiving bank supports SEPA Instant, the credit clears sooner still.
GreyTag
If the person in Spain also uses Grey, send to their GreyTag. That transfer is free and instant, and no account details are exchanged.
Filling the balance before a Spanish bill
No Canadian dollars move into Grey. Money arrives already in a balance currency and waits there until a Spanish bill is actually due.
A client pays you
Consultants and contractors in Canada can be paid straight into their Grey account details, so the money behind a transfer never takes a domestic detour first.
An employer pays you
Salary from a company outside Canada can land in your balance in the currency it is paid in. The conversion into euro happens later, when you send.
You move it yourself
Move money in from an account you already hold in another currency, on a day that suits you rather than one dictated by a payment deadline.
However it arrives, the rate and the fee for the payout are shown at confirmation, and a funded balance can sit untouched between the quarterly bills that Spanish property tends to generate.
What Canadians are paying for in Spain
Running a place on the coast
Community fees, the IBI notice, buildings insurance, electricity and water on an apartment in Alicante or a house near Malaga that sits empty for part of the year.
Family in Spain
A parent's medical and pharmacy costs, a contribution to a household in Galicia or Andalusia, a share of a wedding or a funeral that everyone is putting into.
Buying, selling or renovating
Deposits, a notary's bill, a lawyer or gestoría handling the paperwork, and the trades doing the work while you are on the other side of the Atlantic.
Paying for work done in Spain
A Canadian firm settling with a design studio in Barcelona or a freelancer in Valencia, paid in euro straight into the account they already invoice from.
Four patterns account for most of what moves along this route.
What this route gets right
FAQs
Which Spanish banks can Grey pay from Canada?
Santander Spain, BBVA Spain, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell are supported. You enter the recipient's IBAN, which is the only routing detail needed.
Does the money arrive in euro or in Canadian dollars?
Euro. Your Grey balance converts once into euro and the Spanish bank credits euro, so nothing is converted again in Spain.
Can I pay community fees and IBI on a Spanish property?
Yes. Send euro to the IBAN the administrador or the town hall gives you, the same way a Spanish owner would pay it.
How long does a transfer from Canada to a Spanish account take?
From a funded Grey balance, transfers to Spanish accounts typically arrive within minutes over SEPA, sooner where the receiving bank supports SEPA Instant.
Can I top up my Grey balance in Canadian dollars first?
No. Grey holds US dollars, provided by Lead Bank, pounds and euro. You fund one of those and convert into euro when you send.
Does my sister in Madrid need a Grey account to receive this?
No. She needs a Spanish bank account and its IBAN. The euro arrives as an ordinary credit with nothing to collect.
Will I know the euro figure before I confirm?
Yes. The rate, the fee and the euro amount that will land are shown together, and confirming fixes the rate.
Can I pay a Spanish lawyer or gestoría directly?
Yes, provided they give you the IBAN of the account holding the funds. The euro is credited straight to it.
Why can't I use Interac e-Transfer to send to Spain?
Interac e-Transfer only works between Canadian accounts. Reaching a Spanish IBAN takes an international payout, which is what Grey does.
Is a Spanish IBAN the same as an account number?
The IBAN contains the account details in one string beginning ES. Ask your recipient for the IBAN rather than the short account number.
Can a business in Canada pay a supplier in Barcelona this way?
Yes. Euro is credited to the supplier's Spanish account, and each transfer is logged with its rate and fee for your records.
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