Shattering profit records has become the new normal for major Spanish banks. After a 2025 marked by an increase in commercial activity in an environment of falling interest rates, the new geopolitical and economic context has given the sector a new boost. With skyrocketing inflation and a European Central Bank (ECB) forced to implement a restrictive monetary policy to avoid a loss of control over prices, the new wave of interest rate hikes has catapulted the results of the main entities, which are forecasting a historic year.

BBVA continues to break profit records in an environment favorable to the banking sector. During the first nine months of the year, the Basque-originated entity reached a profit of 9.066 billion euros, 13.6% more than in the same period last year. The group presided over by Carlos Torres attributes the figures to the good performance of its recurring income, divided between the net interest margin—the difference between income and financial costs—and banking fees. In this sense, the gross margin until September—the indicator that reflects an entity's total turnover—reached 32.072 billion euros, 16.3% more in year-on-year terms.

On October 16 of last year, Banc Sabadell and BBVA definitively buried any possibility of a merger. After 17 months of open warfare and tug-of-war, a statement to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) confirmed it. The offer from the entity presided over by Carlos Torres had achieved only 25% acceptance from the capital of the Valles-based bank, below the 30% minimum threshold that the Basque-origin group had set to continue with the operation. The group presided over by Josep Oliu had won the battle. But twelve months later, time has shown that, after the failed takeover bid, the final outcome has turned out to be happy for both.

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, once again claims the need for housing opportunities to be guaranteed in Catalonia and throughout the State, after the death this Wednesday of Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman who became a symbol of the fight for the right to a home following her eviction in Madrid. During a meeting with BBVA and Mexican businessmen held this Thursday at the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona, Illa equated the current situation in the housing sector with the impact suffered by the productive sector after the outbreak of COVID-19.

BBVA will distribute a dividend of 37 cents per share to its shareholders, the highest in its history. According to the entity, the operation will be effective on October 15 and will involve a total payout of 2 billion euros. This increase, 16% more than the interim remuneration of the previous year, will be charged against the 2026 results, a fiscal year that, for now, is breaking all records. During the first half of the year, BBVA achieved a net profit of 6.051 billion euros, 10% more than in the same period last year.

Technology has transformed the relationship with consumers, but proximity and personal treatment remain decisive. This was one of the conclusions of the meeting organized by BBVA, Cecot, and the newspaper ARA, with the participation of Kave, Ametller Origen, and Laboratorios Gebro Pharma, focused on how to combine digitalization and customer knowledge without losing the human factor.

The large Spanish banking sector continues to defend its actions in the mortgage market despite the investigation opened in June by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC). According to financial sources consulted by the Efe agency, the arguments put forward by the supervisory body have "very little basis" and recall that the Competition Commission already dismissed a complaint against the four major state banks – Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, and Banco Sabadell – for the low profitability of their client deposits.

Less housing supply and, therefore, rising prices. These are the forecasts for the housing market made by BBVA Research (the research service of the blue bank) for 2026. Thus, the bank forecasts that purchase and sale transactions will fall by 7.3% in the State as a whole, while prices will rise by an average of 12% in Spain.

The creative project PongoTodo was born in Barcelona a year and eight months ago at the hands of three young people with an idea and a desire to start a business. At just 21 years old, its three partners have managed to consolidate a business project that has been recognized with 'La Base Awards Young Entrepreneurs 2026', the initiative that BBVA and ScrapWorld promote with the aim of supporting young entrepreneurship and accompanying creative projects that are transforming consumption models, fashion, and digital culture.

The implementation of new artificial intelligence tools in the Spanish banking sector is not impacting the staff of the large state entities, for now. With the exception of Banco Santander —which has cut almost 8,400 jobs globally over the last twelve months— the other five Ibex entities have added, over the last year, up to one hundred employees. According to the semi-annual income statements presented in recent weeks to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the group formed by CaixaBank, Banc Sabadell, BBVA, Bankinter, and Unicaja had 99,539 employees at the end of June, slightly above the 99,439 registered at the same time last year.

As a result of this alliance, BBVA became in February the first bank in Spain to promote the adoption of AI among small and medium-sized enterprises. The initiative has been very well received and more than 12,000 companies have already joined the ChatGPT Business program, which includes two ChatGPT licenses and specialized training content.

BBVA continues to grow alone after having turned the page on the failed takeover bid about Banco Sabadell. The entity registered a record profit of 6,051 million euros during the first half of 2026, 10% more than the same period last year at constant exchange rates, that is, eliminating the effects of currency devaluation or appreciation. According to the bank, the improvement is due to the evolution of recurring income, driven mainly by a 17.7% increase in lending.

Entrepreneurship is much more than having a good idea. It's turning it into a real project. It's taking risks, overcoming difficulties, and making decisions. It's taking a step forward. And, above all, it's knowing with whom to take it. Transforming an idea into a viable business is one of the challenges many entrepreneurs face, and often the path is not easy.

News on Inditex's board of directors. The Galician fashion giant – parent company of chains like Zara, Bershka, or Stradivarius – held its shareholders' meeting this week, which approved the incorporation into the highest governing body of a well-known profile on the Ibex-35; specifically, in the broad financial chapter of the selective. The banking sector has also announced new faces in its technology segment, with signings at Openpay and Revolut.

The judge of the Audiencia Nacional Antonio Piña has opened a oral trial against BBVA, its former president Francisco González and 14 other people, including former directors of the banking entity and police commanders, for a series of allegedly illegal commissions made to commissioner José Manuel Villarejo between 2004 and 2016. In the order opening the oral trial of piece 9 of the Tàndem case, the magistrate collects the indictments from the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecutions and sends BBVA to trial for crimes of bribery and 52 crimes of discovery and revelation of secrets.

When the Saudi operator STC entered Telefónica, the telecom company, then chaired by José María Álvarez-Pallete, argued that the "Spanishness" of the shareholding was not lost. It said so because a core group based in the State was maintained with historical shareholders such as Criteria, BBVA itself, and CaixaBank, which sold its stake in 2024. The State Industrial Shareholdings Corporation (SEPI), the Spanish government's investment arm, would later join them, acquiring 10% of Telefónica's share capital. Today, however, this Spanish core has been diluted. CaixaBank's departure two years ago is now joined by BBVA's reduction, which in the last few hours has gone from controlling 5.007% of the share capital to holding only a 1.965% stake, as confirmed by ARA from market sources.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the center of business debate. For this reason, the BBVA board of directors has met in Barcelona to analyze its opportunities and the strategy linked to it, and has also gathered a hundred client companies from all over Spain during corporate banking days.

The Qivalis consortium, founded by CaixaBank and later joined by BBVA, will soon incorporate more Spanish entities to launch a stablecoin – digital money linked to the euro–, such as Banco Sabadell and Bankiter, which plans to make a definitive decision in the summer. There is also a possibility that Abanca and Kutxabank will do so, according to various sources. For its part, Banco Santander is the only one of the major Spanish financial entities that is studying entering another project along with international financial giants such as Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, MUFG Bank, TD Bank Group and UBS. In this case, the digital money would be linked to currencies of the richest countries (G-7), such as the euro, but also the dollar or the yen.

The demand from generation Z has raised the bar and has forced banking to focus on immediate experience. José Ballester, territorial director of BBVA in Catalonia, details how the entity is facing this new paradigm by offering not only an agile app and very competitive rates and products, but also the ability to count on a manager for life's big decisions.How are the financial habits of young people in Catalonia changing in an increasingly digital and competitive context?

Now the episode of BBVA's takeover bid for Banco Sabadell is truly over. With the closing of the sale of the British subsidiary TSB to Banco Santander, and the distribution of an extraordinary dividend of 50 cents per share on May 29, the bank closes a chapter in its 145-year history and begins a new one. The challenge is to prove that, after years of integrating entities in Spain (Atlántic, Guipuzcoano, or Urquijo), it will do better alone than in a bad partnership. After next Wednesday's shareholders' meeting, it will be a bank completely focused on the Catalan and Spanish market, with the challenge of deepening digitalization, but at the same time maintaining the characteristic of personal service with clients and, above all, with companies.