Barclays recently announced to the London Stock Exchange that it will be pulling out of Europe, including Spain.  After it's startegic review, Barclays has decided that it's European Retail division is not a core are of business.  Here are the relevant bits from their stock market announcement:

Barclays today also announces the creation of Barclays Non-Core. This unit groups together those assets which do not fit the strategic objectives or returns criteria underlying the Strategy Review. Barclays will look to exit or run down these assets over time. Barclays Non-Core consists of c.£115bn of RWAs (including £59bn of Transform Exit Quadrant Assets held at year end 2013) with associated leverage exposure of c.£400bn, comprising:

c.£90bn of Investment Bank RWAs, including non-standard FICC derivatives, non-core commodities and specific emerging markets products

c.£16bn of Europe retail RWAs, representing the entirety of the business, reflecting its non-strategic nature to Barclays

c.£9bn of certain Corporate, Barclaycard and Wealth RWAs

I'm gutted that Barclays are pulling out of Spain.  We have had our joint account with them since we moved to Spain five and a half years ago.  We have their Opportunity Account, which is commission free; has no minimum funding requirements and gives us 3% cash back each month on our bills. 

I've also found their customer service to be excellent, as is their internet banking.  Staff were always very polite and helpful, which can be unusual for Spain.

It's going to be tough finding a replacement bank account that comes close to what Barclays have offered us over the last 5+ years.  I'm not sure when Barclays will finally close it's doors in Spain, but we should have at least until the end of this year to find a new current account.