Hi ilovemadrid! It's good to see you here again.
I recently had the need to transfer money from my bank account to a bank account in Spain. And let me tell you, it was a pain in the @$$!! Seems we here in the USA are not well equipped to transfer cash to banks in Europe unless you are loaded with all sorts of information.
I tried it from my bank account and they asked me through which city/central bank in the USA was the money transferred in order to get to Spain. WHAT?!! Wouldn't the bank know this?? Apparently not.
The "go-through" USA-city/location depends on the bank in Spain because, it seems, different banks in Spain use different USA bank-Portals before it meets the bank in Spain. Anyway, I would have had to contact the bank in Spain to ask them through which "point" they passed from the USA to read them in Spain. Anyway, it was going to be like $40 to make this transaction so I just threw up my hands.
Instead, I did a money transfer through
Western Union online. The cash transferred and transaction fee (ended up also being $40 - but it depends on the amount transferred) was charged to my Visa credit card (they also accept Master Card, but NOT American Express). They also tell you that your credit card company could charge you a cash advance fee which mine did.
But still, there are apparently MANY Western Union "windows" all over Spain and the recipient only needs to show identification to pick up the money. You can give them the "approval number" too, but we didn't need it in my case.
The transaction was made within 24 hours. I think a bank transfer could take 24-48 hours.
If you get it done please tell us how it went so others will know what they can do. Thanks!
Saludos, MadridMan