In Spain, currency exchange offices are authorised and supervised by the Banco de España, and its Circular 6/2001 says what they must display: the rates, the commissions and a permanent notice board. This page goes through it item by item, with the texts.
A currency exchange office in Spain (an establecimiento de cambio de moneda, usually called a casa de cambio) needs the authorisation of the Banco de España, which also inspects it (Real Decreto 2660/1998, articles 6 and 10). The office sets its own rates freely, but it has to publish them, together with its commissions, in the way the Banco de España’s Circular 6/2001 lays down. Circular 4/2020 rewrote the rules for offices that sell currency, so guides written before 2020 can be out of date.
This page was checked against the consolidated texts in the Boletín Oficial del Estado in October 2026. It is not legal advice: confirm what applies to your authorisation with the Banco de España or a lawyer.
Two kinds of office, two sets of rules
The circular treats offices differently depending on what they are authorised to do:
- Offices that only buy foreign currency (they pay euros for foreign banknotes or traveller’s cheques) follow Norma 4ª.
- Offices that also sell foreign currency, or send money abroad, follow Norma 9ª, which is stricter and asks for a permanent notice board.
Most high-street and airport offices buy and sell, so the notice board below applies to them.
The rates and commissions
Offices that only buy must publish, “in a perfectly visible place inside the premises”, the minimum buy rates they will apply to amounts up to €3,000, together with their commissions and charges, including any minimum charge. When the name of a charge does not make clear what it is for, the office has to explain it (Norma 4ª.1).
Offices that buy and sell must publish the minimum buy rates and the maximum sell rates of the main currencies they deal in, or a single rate where they use one, for amounts up to €3,000 (Norma 9ª.1.1). Their commissions and charges, including minimum charges, must be shown with the same prominence as the rates and in a way that catches the public’s attention, described simply, so that customers can compare one office with another (Norma 9ª.1.2).
In practice this means:
- A buy rate and a sell rate for each currency, as published rates the office will not go below (buy) or above (sell) for amounts up to €3,000.
- The commission next to the rates and as easy to see as they are, not in small print at the bottom.
- A minimum charge, if there is one, shown as well.
The permanent notice board (tablón de anuncios)
An office that buys and sells must have, in every one of its premises, a permanent notice board placed somewhere prominent and visible, so that it draws the public’s attention (Norma 9ª.1.4). It must carry:
- The exchange rates, commissions and charges.
- The office’s customer service department or service, and how to make a complaint.
- The contact details of at least one alternative dispute resolution body accredited under Ley 7/2017, and how to use it.
- A reference to the transparency rules, with the details of the provisions of the circular that apply.
- A legible copy of the Banco de España’s authorisation and the office’s register number.
The order of 16 November 2000 that the circular implements adds two more things worth keeping on the board: a legible copy of the certificate of the authorised operations and the register number “in a perfectly visible place” (article 3.2), and information on the existence and role of the Banco de España’s complaints service (article 9.2).
An office that only buys does not need the full notice board, but it must still display a legible copy of the Banco de España’s authorisation and its register number in the same visible place as its rates (Norma 4ª.3).
If the office belongs to an international network or trades under a network’s brand, the network’s name must not leave customers unsure who they are dealing with, and has to appear less prominently than the identity of the authorised office (Norma 9ª.3.2). An office that shares its premises with another business must make clear which one is providing the exchange (Norma 4ª.4).
Before and after each exchange
The board is not the only information the customer is owed:
- Before the exchange, an office that buys and sells must give the customer the detailed rate and every charge for the operation, free of charge, on paper or another durable medium, for the customer’s express agreement (Norma 9ª.1.3).
- After the exchange, the customer gets a settlement document (documento de liquidación) showing the amounts handed over and received, the rate applied and each commission with what it is for. A percentage commission must show the base it was calculated on and the result in euros (Norma 9ª.2).
Identity checks
Exchange offices keep a daily register of operations with the customer’s identity document and keep it for six years (Norma 8ª). Under the anti-money-laundering regulation, customers must be identified for occasional operations of €1,000 or more (Real Decreto 304/2014, article 4), with closer checks for exchanges above €6,000. Residents exchanging more than €6,010.12 sign a declaration on the Banco de España’s forms. A sign at the counter saying when ID is needed saves arguments, but it is not one of the items the board must carry.
“No commission”
The Spanish texts do not have a rule written specifically against “0% commission” signs, unlike France and the United Kingdom. But commissions must be shown as prominently as the rates and in a way that lets customers compare offices, and Spanish consumer law forbids misleading advertising. A sign saying “no commission” while the margin sits in the rate does not help a customer compare, so leave it off.
Can the notice board be a screen?
Neither the circular nor the order says the rates or the notice board must be on paper, and neither mentions screens. We found no Banco de España guidance either way. Our reading:
- The rates and commissions can be on a screen, as long as it is in the place the rules ask for (perfectly visible inside the premises) and the commission is as easy to read as the rates.
- The notice board has to be permanent. A screen that rotates the authorisation away for most of the time, or goes blank when the player is off, is a weak way to meet that. The safest setup keeps the fixed items (the copy of the authorisation, the complaints details, the dispute resolution body, the transparency reference) on a printed notice next to the screen, and lets the screen carry the rates, which change every day.
A checklist for an office in Spain
- A buy and a sell rate for every main currency you deal in, valid for amounts up to €3,000.
- Your commissions and charges, including minimums, as prominent as the rates and in plain words.
- A permanent notice board in a prominent place with the rates and commissions, your customer service and how to complain, an accredited dispute resolution body, the transparency reference, the Banco de España complaints service, and a legible copy of your authorisation and register number.
- A network or franchise name, if you use one, smaller than your own name.
- A written breakdown before each exchange and a settlement document after it.
- No “no commission” sign if your margin is in the rate.
How easyCMS helps
The easyCMS currency board puts every currency’s buy and sell rates side by side, buy first, with the unit next to the code and the date of the rates on the board. Rates follow the daily reference rates with your own margins, or stay locked at what you type, and one rates table feeds the window, the counter and your website, so they never disagree. A commission line under the rates is printed as large as the rates themselves, and the footer line can carry your register number.
What the board does not do is replace the printed notice board. Keep the copy of your authorisation and the complaints details on paper next to the screen. For the rules in other countries, see the exchange rate display rules by country, and for France, what a bureau de change must display in France.
The texts
- Circular 6/2001 of the Banco de España, consolidated text, Normas 4ª, 8ª and 9ª (Norma 9ª as rewritten by Circular 4/2020)
- Order of 16 November 2000 on currency exchange establishments, articles 3 and 9
- Real Decreto 2660/1998 on currency exchange in establishments open to the public
- Real Decreto 304/2014, the anti-money-laundering regulation