The growth of the economy translated last year into the lowest level of household and business debt in 25 years. And, on the other hand, household financial wealth, resulting from the difference between assets held and debts, reached a record of 2.645 trillion euros, representing 156.8% of GDP, compared to the average of 149.1% since 2022, according to data from the financial accounts of the Spanish economy published by the Bank of Spain.

One of the songs from the final stage of The Beatles was The long and winding road (The long and winding road), on the album Let it be, the last one published, even though it was recorded before Abbey Road. Surely the title and parts of the lyrics come to mind for Alícia Romero's Ministry of Economy: "You left me standing here. A long, long time ago. Don't leave me waiting. Guide me to your door." Not only because of the difficulties she has in approving the first budgets of Salvador Illa's legislature, which also, but because of the obstacles in achieving another objective pursued by the different Catalan governments, which is to make the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) a true public bank to cover areas that private financial entities do not reach, or barely do.

The Bank of Spain closed last year with a profit of 234 million euros, which are transferred directly to the Public Treasury, as the entity collects in its annual accounts. With this result, the body chaired by José Luis Escrivá overcomes the two consecutive years of operating losses with which it closed 2023 and 2024, as happened with all central banks that are part of the Eurosystem, including the European Central Bank (ECB).

The Catalan government will buy half of the Bank of Spain building in Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona. The transaction will cost the Catalan government €58.4 million, plus an additional €36.9 million for renovations before it can move in, as announced this Friday. The VanguardThe acquisition of part of the building would allow the Catalan government to save approximately 4.5 million euros annually. The Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, had publicly admitted in the past that the bank's branch in the center of Barcelona was underutilized and had opened the door to its sale to the Generalitat (Catalan government), which is itself trying to increase its portfolio of owned offices.

Analysts at the Bank of Spain are heading into their Christmas break with a positive outlook regarding the country's economic growth. In line with other international organizations, and also with the Spanish government, the supervisory body forecasts that the Spanish economy will grow more than previously expected in 2025 (2.9%), as well as in 2026 and 2027. And they expect it to grow strongly. Thus, for next year, they estimate a rebound in gross domestic product (GDP, the indicator used to measure the size of an economy) of 2.2%, while in 2027 they project 1.9%, as detailed in the macroeconomic projections published this Tuesday. This represents an upward revision of four and two tenths of a percentage point, respectively, compared to the projections from last September.

"In Spain, SMEs are the ones that finance large companies on clean terms." This is how the Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, described the complicated financing situation of small and medium-sized enterprises, aggravated by the fact that large corporations generally take more than two months to pay their suppliers. He made these remarks on Tuesday during his address to the board of directors of Pimec, where he also held a dialogue with the president of the Catalan employers' association, Antoni Cañete.

Spanish banking default rates fell below 3% in June for the first time since October 2008, according to data released by the Bank of Spain. The non-performing loan ratio stood at 2.97%, very similar to the 2.92% recorded in October 2008, when the economy peaked before the financial crisis.

Banks operating in Spain, both domestic and foreign, are strengthening their solvency and reaching their highest levels of profitability, according to the latest data from the Bank of Spain.

Only three countries in the European Union collect more than Catalonia from inheritance and gift tax, although there are two autonomous communities in the state—the Balearic Islands and Asturias—that also collect more, according to a study by the Bank of Spain. The report, published on July 1 and titled The possible revenue impact of some hypothetical reforms to the inheritance and gift tax, It points out that all autonomous communities could collect more if they adjusted the rates paid for this tax to the levels they had in 1996, when the Spanish government ceded its management to the autonomous communities.

The net wealth of Spanish households grew by 8.1% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period a year ago, reaching €2.4 trillion, according to financial accounts published by the Bank of Spain. The same report shows a moderation in household debt, reaching 43.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), its lowest level since the first quarter of 2000.

The tariff chaos wreaked by the United States has not gone unnoticed by Spanish households and their consumption patterns. A large number of families are willing to change their habits and seek alternative sources in the country when purchasing a product. Specifically, between 80% and 90% of households would be willing to "adjust their consumption decisions" and eliminate the United States from the equation, while only 10% would not consider doing so because they would have no alternatives, as confirmed by the Bank of Spain (BdE) through a survey (CE) on Tuesday, coinciding with the update of its macroeconomic forecasts.

The Bank of Spain has cut its forecast for Spanish gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2025 by three-tenths to 2.4%, while lowering its 2026 estimate by one-tenth to 1.8%, amid a context marked by tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty. This was announced by the Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, during his speech this Monday in the Congress of Deputies.

The Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, said this Wednesday that he is confident that the process for recruiting positions for the bank's new innovation center in Barcelona will be resolved "in the coming months." According to the agency, there are 25 positions for technology professionals, for which 900 people have already applied. However, the bank does not rule out the possibility of expanding the number of positions. The Bank of Spain has already signed an agreement with the Barcelona SuperComputing Center. to collaborate in promoting the implementation of artificial intelligence in the financial sector.

The Bank of Spain is now without a Director of Economics, a key figure in the organization's operations, which has had to put the position out to tender. Also this week, the Spanish Association of Executives elected Xavier Brossa as its new president, replacing Juan Antonio Alcaraz; Marc Murtra was elected a new member of the European Round Table for Industry (ERT); and King has a new president. These are some of the week's key executive moves.

Productivity is growing in Spain. This is confirmed by the annual report for 2024 published this Tuesday by the Bank of Spain, which indicates that the Spanish economy is closing the productivity gap with the main economies of Europe, an element considered one of the State's main unfinished business in economic matters. The good performance of economic activity explains the productivity improvements in recent years, but the organization does not indicate whether they are structural and will be maintained in the long term or if it is a temporary phenomenon.

Despite global trade tensions and fears of a recession in the United States, the Spanish economy will grow strongly again this year, especially when compared to other European economies. In fact, the Bank of Spain has revised upwards the rebound of the gross domestic product (GDP, the indicator that measures economic activity) in 2025 and places it at 2.7%, two-tenths above the forecast published in December, when the supervisory body estimated a growth of the Spanish economy of 2.5%.

Three months after the Bank of Spain opened its doors to the controversial Real portraits by Annie Leibovitz, this Wednesday morning the kings visited the works with the internationally renowned photographer. The event was also attended by a small group of press who witnessed the response of Felipe and Letizia when they saw Leibovitz's creation for the first time. Even so, neither of them wanted to comment on the American's work, some portraits that at the time of being made public in November generated a great controversy due to speculation about the message that Leibovitz had wanted to convey.

The impact of the pandemic on the State's public accounts is undeniable. The measures adopted by the State have brought the the public deficit to 11% of GDP, bordering on the historical record. But, in addition, the state debt has reached another historical record in 2020: €1.35 trillion, 120% of GDP, according to data published on Tuesday by the Bank of Spain. The pandemic has shattered the objectives of the beginning of the year, when the Spanish government was set to end the year with a debt of 94.65% of GDP, after finishing 2019 at 95.5%.