best bank account

Many use Wise, easily opened online, they can be used for direct debits, currency transfers etc. There are no quarterly bank charges that the Spanish banks have, which can be quite expensive unless you take out several other products with them.

As Paolo said WISE appears favourite with many Brits having now closed Spanish bank accounts due to punitive charges.

I also agree to opening a Wise Online Account.  Spanish banks will fleece you with quarterly charges. 

Look here:

www.wise.com

Steve 

If resident there are myriad ways to avoid bank charges.

Agree with Darro. If coming as a resident there are quite a few banks offering free banking provided you meet their T&Cs which aren't that onerous. I have been permanent with what is now Caixa bank since 2011 and never paid any fees to them. Simply had a sum of over 700 euro paid in monthly as a non pension receiver, reduced to 200 euro a month (now 300) as a pension paid in. Then just one other thing such as a certain number of direct debits, a balance of 12,000 euro throughout the year or using the credit card 3 times in a quarter. The credit card is easy as we use it as a debit card and pay for groceries, Amazon etc and they simply charge you on the first of the next month. No charges at all which would be 60 euro a quarter otherwise. Direct debits are easy as well with electric, SUMA, water, community charges and my car dealer service charge along with insurances and so on. No charge for the credit or debit card providing it is paid off on time and no charge for direct debits either.

Other banks offer similar systems and BBVA, Santander and Caja Rural often get recommendations as well as Caixa. 

If a non resident then an online banking account, such as Wise, would probably be better but residents can get non fee accounts quite easily. Just pop into a bank of your choice and ask them. Some give you free banking if you have one of their services such as home insurance or life insurance or even a funeral plan with them but check out the costs as they can be higher than you get elsewhere. 

Plus these banks have the EU compensation scheme so you know your money is safe up to 100,000 euro each.  Online banks take out an insurance policy on protection of your money but don't come under the EU guarantee.

The last point you make is not correct as it is a generalisation covering a number of institutions. Specifically your point:

Online banks take out an insurance policy on protection of your money but don't come under the EU guarantee.

For example, N26 which is an online bank available to Spanish residents is covered by the ECB protection (100k Euros):

Guaranteed Money Protection - N26 Support Center | N26 Support EU

Wise, is not covered by the ECB protection but it's safeguarding for customers based in the EU is detailed here:

How our EU entity, Wise Europe SA, safeguards customer funds | Wise Help Centre

Hi Steve

If your income will be in GBP, then you also need to consider currency conversion charges.

I am resident in Spain and use Wise for everything including currency conversion- it's very hard to beat Wise on this matter.

Cheers

(Yet another) Steve

Couldnt agree more, many years in Quesada the Caixa bank was always rammed with customers. There greed has emptied the place out. Everytime you go past there now its almost empty..Go with Wise, I and many others have. 

Regards 
 

Who are you agreeing with?

I wouldn't say that the number of people in a branch at any given time was much of an indication of potential charges which is what the OP was asking about.

Less people could be seen as a sign of less dissatisfaction!