°µÍø½ûÇø

You can also use your passport to open an account at bankia though they may take a bit longer to do it.

Kim   
An NIE is only a fiscal ID number. 
To obtain such a number there is no requirement to have any money.
I think you are getting confused with applying to resident status.

In any case banks will usually allow one to open an account although technically they should not allow you to operate the account until you have an NIE

Santander allows foreigners without NIE to open accounts. I was there half an hour ago. They monthly fee is 10€. For residents it's 8€.

³Õ´Ç²Ô²õ³Ù±ð°ù.Ìý

I. believe it is the law, probably EU law, regarding prevention of money laundering, that a proof of ID must be produced to all banks to permit them to allow a customer to operate an account

Of course there will always be people in any system / organisation who may make mistakes or not be sufficiently informed but that does not prove something they did was correct

Quote. From Banco Santander Webb page:

To open a bank account as a non-resident customer, Santander in Spain needs a passport, a proof of residence in the customer's country, a proof of income or commercial activity. The customer has to be present in the branch in Spain with these documents to be able to open the account.Feb 28, 2017

Further info here