How much money can you carry in your car in Spain?

It’s not usual that you’ll be carrying around large sums of dinero en efectivo cash in your car, unless maybe you run a cash-based business and need to make regular trips to the bank.

Or maybe you’re going on holiday and want to take cash out before you leave as you don’t want to incur extra charges at other banks or worry about having to find an ATM in rural areas.

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Firstly, it’s important to know that Spanish Law 10/2010, of April 28th, on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, states that self-employed individuals who intend to make "movements within national territory of means of payment for an amount equal to or greater than €100,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency", must submit a prior declaration.

To do this, you must justify the movement of the money, specifying details such who is the owner, the recipient, the amount, origin, intended use, route, and mode of transport.

So if you do have your own business and need to transport cash, then you'll already have the proper authorisation to be able to do so.

If you’re entering Spain and driving over the border in your car or flying, you can only bring a maximum of €10,000 in cash, otherwise you will have to declare it first.

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If it’s your job to move large sums of money and you're employed by a company and are fully authorised to do so, you are exempt from the obligation to make a prior declaration.

What are the consequences of carrying more?

If you are found with more than €100,000 in your car or on your person, without having declared it then there are consequences.

The same if you attempt to enter or leave the country with €10,000 without prior declaration.

If the Civil Guard catch you with these amounts you will be charged under Article 52.3 of Law 10/2010, which classifies this as a serious offence. They will even be authorised to take the money from you.

According Article 57.3 fines for this offence start from €600 and go up to a maximum amount of up to 50 percent of the value of the cash you were carrying.

Of course if it’s proven that this money came from illegal activities or a tax crime is committed, this would be a much more serious matter.

Article 301 of the Penal Code states that in this case you would be punished "with a prison sentence of six months to six years and a fine of one to three times the value of the assets”.

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