NIE

Hello, I don’t know if this helps at all, however when we were buying our apartment the lawyer applied ( advised and helped) with NIE , bank accounts, electricity etc.  Hope this helps a little.  Best of luck x Jean

We did exactly as Jean, our lawyer sorted the NIE, services etc. With NIE & passport in hand, was easy to set up a bank account ourselves, with Sabadell who have English speakers in main areas. ( I expect that other banks offer similar service) We also gave her Power of Attorney, so our house purchase & other legals could go through whilst we were back in UK.

Some will say you can save a couple of quid by DIYing, being unfamiliar with Spanish language & legal procedures, we were very pleased to have a good lawyer take care of it for us. We agreed a flat fee for the purchase & all other services.

We found our house the day before returning to the UK so gave power of attorney to our solicitors and they sorted everything. Brilliant service. 

Do they help with residency 

I'm not sure, sorry. Would you like their details? 

Well I’m in mijas 

Just got back from Spain last week where we put in an offer (accepted) for a property and opened a bank account with Sabadell. 

Couldn't be easier. We didn't need an NIE. Just needed the following:

* Passport,

* Driving Licence (or other proof of address, e.g. utility bill),

* National Insurance Number,

Simple form filled in with bank employee, then had to go away for an hour (during which time downloaded bank app to phone), back in and given a code to open (and operate) the app and then deposited €100.

Thank you for this. There has been so much conflicting information. I think now you only need to apply for your NIE if you intend to stay longer than 6 months:)

Every time we've sorted anything, electric, buying a car, non residence tax, setting up utility payments with the Town Hall we have always been asked for our NIE number.