The Spanish government is in the process of passing legislation which will automatically classify large amounts of undeclared cash brought into or taken out of the country as having been obtained illegally.
Spain’s left-wing government has approved a new draft bill focusing on the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of weapons of mass destruction, but it also includes new rules on the movement of cash.
The proposed legislation includes a new anti-money laundering authority known as ANIFI, which will essentially reverse the burden of proof when it comes to movements of large amounts of cash.
This means that when individuals carry large amounts of cash, it will be up to them, and not Spanish authorities, to prove that the money they’re carrying is legal.
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Currently, prior declaration is required for all cash movements of €100,000 or more within Spain or exceeding €10,000 to or from foreign countries.
If the money is not declared and authorities intervene or find a problem, they then have the burden of proof and must demonstrate that the cash was obtained illegally. If no evidence of this is found, they must return the money to the owner.
Under the new measures, that would all change. The new draft bill states that: “In cases where means of payment are seized due to non-compliance with the obligation to declare as established in Article 25, their lawful origin must be proven”.
This means the burden of proof is completely reversed. Essentially, when undeclared money is seized, it is automatically considered illicit and it is the responsibility of the owner of said funds, not the authorities, to prove it was obtained legally.
The penalties for bringing in undeclared cash would also be tightened, and will now be considered a serious offence with stiffer fines for offenders.
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Likewise, the text states that simply making a prior declaration is not enough to avoid problems; the obligation “will be considered unfulfilled when the information provided is incorrect or incomplete,” that is, if the amount does not match what is actually being carried.
The law specifically states “means of payment”, which includes “paper money and coins, both national and foreign”, as well as prepaid cards, “understood as non-nominative cards that store or provide access to monetary values or funds that can be used to make payments, acquire goods or services, or to obtain cash, when such cards are not linked to a bank account” and high value items which can be sold for cash such as gold jewellery or diamonds.
Some business groups are understandably not happy about the decision. They argue that the government is essentially presuming that cash is undeclared or illegal right off the bat and that it is disregarding principles such as the presumption of innocence by placing the burden of proof on the resident or business owner.
Sources from Denaria, a Spanish association created to defend the use and availability of physical cash, insists that “it is not the citizen who must prove that they use their money lawfully, but rather the AEAT (Spanish Tax Agency) that must prove that such use is illicit”.
It therefore considers it necessary for the Ministry of Economy to “eliminate this article because it stigmatises payments with legal tender.”
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The new draft law and ANIFI authority will also affect financial entities and gambling operators, cryptocurrency service providers, participatory financing platforms such as crowdfunding, as well as professional football clubs and agents.
It will mean complete and up-to-date identification of clients and actual beneficiaries, detailed records of financial transactions, especially those related to crypto assets and crowdfunding platforms, more criminal record checks for managerial positions and the payment of the administrative fee to ANIFI.
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The Spanish Cabinet approved the draft bill on comprehensive measures for the prevention of money laundering at its meeting on July 28th 2026.
As this is a draft bill in its first stage, it has not yet been definitively approved as law, so it must undergo a public consultation process, receive technical reports, and return to the Spanish Cabinet as a bill for submission to the Spanish Parliament.
