Spain's largest banks are once again talking about the banking business at financial conclaves. It's not that they haven't talked about it until now, but there was an "elephant in the room" that overshadowed the media spotlight: BBVA's hostile takeover bid for Banco Sabadell. Even though senior executives in the financial sector strived to explain how the business worked, headlines in the media didn't move beyond this framework – it also helped that at these meetings no one hesitated to ask about the operation. But since the majority of Sabadell's shareholders decided not to accept BBVA's offer, that chapter is now history, and the sector's conclaves are witnessing it, as attendees at the first day of the financial forum organized annually by the Iese business school in Madrid were able to verify this Wednesday. The meeting ends tomorrow, Thursday, and will feature the main figures of Spanish banking, but also other players in the sector.

Spanish banking has opted en masse for private digital money (stablecoin) linked to the euro. Banc Sabadell, Bankinter, Abanca, Kutxabank and Cecabank have joined the private consortium Qivalis, based in the Netherlands, as reported by ARA, and which also includes CaixaBank and BBVA. In this way, Spanish banking is the one with the most representatives in this society that began at the end of last year with 10 financial entities, which later increased to 12 and now number 37, with a presence in 15 countries.

The concern in the United States financial industry about the viability of some private credit investment funds has led Wall Street's major banks to bet on financial instruments that either cover losses in case of fund failure or allow for downside speculation. Major North American financial institutions have created a public index in recent weeks that allows investors to know the price of these new speculative instruments.

May 18, 2026, will be a date etched in the history of Bizum, the Spanish payment services provider par excellence. This Monday, its BizumPay platform will land in shops, bars, and restaurants to present itself as a payment alternative to conventional debit and credit cards, a universe until now dominated by North American groups like Visa or Mastercard. The news excites banks and European institutions, who are looking for new ways to reduce dependence on the United States in all sectors. However, commerce greets the measure with doubts and a rather limited initial implementation is expected.

Mortgage lending continues to circulate – in fact, some financial institutions have warned that it is doing so unsustainably – while housing prices rise month after month. In this context, some are already noticing a difficulty in buying: households where the main residence is rented have a "limited financial capacity" to acquire a first property through a mortgage, according to the Bank of Spain. Be that as it may, the scenario shows no signs of concern in the opinion of the supervisory body, which for some months has been analyzing whether to activate any limitations on the lending criteria for high-risk mortgages that are being granted.

The main Spanish banks have closed the first quarter without any of the tribulations that analysts expected. The six financial entities of the Ibex-35 arrive at the month of April with an accumulated profit close to 11,000 million euros, the best first quarter in the history of the sector. The market reads in the accounts of Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Banco Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja a strategy of "profitability growth" successful, in the words of the Renta 4 bank expert Nuria Álvarez. The economist, in statements to the newspaper ARA, points out that, in part, the entities have accelerated the offer of slightly riskier products, but also with more profit potential. "In this area, mortgages are not succeeding, but consumer credit is," adds Álvarez. And the Bank of Spain agrees: according to the organism's latest liquidity report, the total balance of consumer financing soared in the first quarter by 12.6%, to 117,351 million.

With the highest quorum in recent years, over 71%, according to the secretary of the board, Miquel Roca, Banco Sabadell has gathered shareholders today at the first post-failed BBVA OPA meeting. A meeting that has served as a farewell from the CEO who has been for the last more than five years, César González-Bueno; and a welcome to the new one, Marc Armengol, a professional with more than 25 years of experience in the company. And it had an unusual ending for board meetings, a refreshment as an shareholder requested a year ago, recalled the bank's president, Josep Oliu.

The Government continues the refinancing process of the debt it holds with the autonomous liquidity fund (FLA) that began last summer. The executive council has authorized the Generalitat this Tuesday to access the banking market to repay 3,000 million euros of the liabilities it had accumulated with the FLA through new loans. It does so, according to government agreements, to "continue reducing the cost of the Generalitat's debt and diversifying financing sources" with private sector partners.

Banco Sabadell has reduced the pace of mortgage lending to adapt to lower profitability of this type of loans for home purchases. The CEO, César González-Bueno, who will leave his post after tomorrow's shareholders' meeting to hand over to Marc Armengol, former head of the British subsidiary, TSB, sold to Banco Santander, explained that mortgage prices (interest rates) "are very strained" and there is a lower pace of production and also of amortization.

Banking has suffered a black day on the stock market. Financial institutions have painted European main indices red, dragged down by forecasts of economic contraction due to the war in Iran. All countries have seen their banks lose momentum since the opening, but the Spanish state is among the main victims. The Ibex-35, much more heavily weighted with banking stocks than the rest of the relevant EU indices, has fallen by nearly 2.4% this Monday, and is once again moving away from the 18,000-point threshold that marked its rally since the start of 2026. Far from these figures, the German Dax 40 has survived the declines in the stock prices of Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, and has stopped its freefall at -1.2%; while the French Cac 40 has dropped by nearly 1.7%.

If 2025 was marked by corporate operations at Banco Santander, no major ones are foreseen for 2026, at least not large ones. Nor in 2027, nor in 2028. "We do not foresee any important or significant operations in the next three years," assured the bank's CEO, Héctor Grisi, during the press conference for the first-quarter results of 2026, where he only opened the door to "small" moves that help strengthen the business in the markets where it has a presence.

2026 has begun marked by uncertainty, especially geopolitical due to the war in the Middle East, and it is already noticeable in the credit that banks provide, but also in the demand from families and businesses. On the one hand, during the first quarter of the year (January, February, and March), financial institutions in the State tightened the criteria for granting loans in all segments (mortgages, consumer, and business), but especially in loans to companies, as is evident from a new Bank Lending Survey published this Tuesday by the Bank of Spain (BdE).

Catalonia surpassed 8,500 housing mortgages constituted in February for the first time since 2010 and has now accumulated 20 months of year-on-year increases, according to figures updated by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this Friday.

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).

A few months ago, the global financial sector began to show signs of concern, especially in the United States, due to the collapse of First Brands, Tricolor Holdings, and the credit fraud cases of regional banks Zions Bancorporation and Western Alliance. Credit panic began to set in in the markets, also on the Old Continent, with stock market declines contagious from Wall Street. Just a few days ago, the bankruptcy of the British mortgage broker MFS (Markets Financial Solutions) also splashed several lending entities, including Barclays and Banco Santander, with a millionaire credit exposure.

Caixa Ingenieros earned €26.5 million in 2025, an 11% increase, achieving record results for the third consecutive year. However, the global context of uncertainty has also affected the bank's accounts: "Interest rates have been falling, and that has affected us. We are a bank, and therefore we are not immune to what is happening in the market. Our scenario for 2026 is for interest rates to remain at the closing rate, which we have offset with expenses," stated the bank's CEO, Juanjo Llopis, during the results presentation this Tuesday. These results were the first of a full year with Llopis as CEO, who took over from Joan Cavallé at the beginning of the year. "We have achieved a new record result for the bank, which makes us very proud and allows us to face the future with strength and confidence," Llopis explained. Business volume rose to €9.269 billion, an 8% year-on-year increase; net interest income fell 2.8% to €74.1 million in a context of declining interest rates; and gross income declined 0.66% to €122.4 million, according to the results published Tuesday by the cooperative group. The year ended with 220,080 members, a 1.7% increase, representing an additional 4,000 members in absolute terms. "We are a community-focused bank, and that's what drives our membership growth. We've gone from having 31 company-owned branches to just two shared ones," the group explained. Of the 33 branches, 10 are in Barcelona, ​​12 in the rest of Catalonia, and 11 in the rest of Spain. Credit investment increased by 5.1% to €2.079 billion, with the majority going to personal loans (€1.482 billion, up 2.5%). Business lending rose by 12.4% to €597 million. New loan originations increased by 10% to €626 million. Llopis explained that they encountered a "particularly competitive" market in this sector, in a year in which banks increased mortgage lending. Forecasts for 2026

"Looking ahead to 2026, uncertainties persist, and we are in a period of high volatility, mainly due to geopolitical tensions, wars, tariffs, the focus on taxation, and sovereign debt markets; but everything will depend on how long the conflict with Iran lasts," he noted. In fact, the CEO has anticipated a possible interest rate hike should the conflict in the Middle East drag on. This will be the year that culminates the group's current strategic plan, the so-called 'Transform 2026 Plan'. The credit union expects to close the year with around 230,000 members and a business volume of approximately €10 billion. The institution also forecasts that profitability (ROE) will fall to 9.35% and the non-performing loan ratio to 2.4%.

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Since 2008, there has been a veritable tsunami in the banking sector. Financial institutions have closed 6,000 branches in Catalonia since then, thus increasing the risk of financial exclusion, according to a report by the Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO). This process has resulted from various consolidation initiatives, such as CaixaBank's acquisition of Bankia. Consequently, Catalonia, along with Andalusia and Madrid—the most populous autonomous communities—has the fewest bank branches per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from the Bank of Spain. The ACCO analysis, which previously produced a similar report opposing BBVA's takeover bid for Banc Sabadell (a bid that ultimately failed), also warns of the risks of excessive concentration in certain areas and responds to a motion from the Parliament of Catalonia regarding the need to establish a public banking system focused on economic development. The consolidation of the banking sector in Catalonia has been accompanied by branch closures, a decrease in the number of ATMs, and job losses. Between 2008 and 2024, Catalonia lost 6,038 branches, a 74% reduction. As a result, 503 Catalan municipalities (53% of the total) have no bank branches and 435 (46%) have no ATMs. This process has also led to the disappearance of the 10 existing savings banks and a significant increase in concentration: the four largest banks together operate 85% of the branches. According to the study, "the concentration of the retail banking market in Catalonia can be considered high, both in terms of the availability of bank branches and the amount of credit granted." The study adds that "generally, these are markets with an oligopoly structure in which CaixaBank has a significant market share, followed by BBVA, Sabadell, and Santander. Only in a few specific cases do other entities have a considerable market share, such as Ibercaja in the province of Lleida." According to the study, CaixaBank operates 39.22% of branches (828), BBVA 18.85% (398), Banco Sabadell 15.92% (336), and Banco Santander 10.90% (230). The fifth largest bank, Ibercaja, has only 3.27% of branches (69), and the remaining entities, combined, have a market share of 11.84% (250). Currently, only Banc Sabadell, which relinquished its headquarters last year during BBVA's takeover bid, Caixa Ingenieros, and Caixa Guissona have their registered offices in Catalonia. CaixaBank has one in Valencia, although its owner, the La Caixa Foundation, and its investment arm, Criteria, relocated it to Barcelona last year. In total, there are 29 deposit-taking institutions operating in Catalonia.

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BBVA's board of directors will propose the appointment of Catalan Jordi Montalbo Todolí as an independent director to the next shareholders' meeting. With this move, the bank, chaired by Carlos Torres Vila, aims to underscore its commitment to Catalonia following the collapse of its takeover bid for Banc Sabadell last October. Montalbo, born in 1965, is an independent director of Med Vida (Mediterráneo Vida, SA de Seguros y Reaseguros) and spent much of his career at Deloitte, from 1990 to 2022. At the consulting firm, he specialized in sector auditing. He held prominent positions such as partner in charge of insurance in Spain, as well as partner in audit and insurance for financial services and co-lead audit leader for the insurance sector in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The prospective BBVA director holds a degree in economics and business administration from the University of Barcelona. He holds a high level of technical specialization as an insurance actuary from the same university. He has also completed several training and development programs both in Spain and abroad. His appointment is subject to verification by the European Central Bank (ECB) to confirm that he meets the regulatory requirements for suitability to serve as a board member.

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Several banks have announced that they will tighten mortgage conditions throughout 2026. Prices will rise, and lending standards will be stricter. This shift comes after a record-breaking 2025. The official explanation cites prudence and the need to avoid future risks in the real estate market.

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For the four largest banks in Spain, 2025 was not a bad year. In fact, with the exception of Banco Sabadell, CaixaBank, Banco Santander, and BBVA all posted record profits. However, the bank originating in the Vallès region closed the year with a net loss. match ball from the hostile takeover bid and will continue, for now, on the independent path it has so strongly advocated. In total, both entities have achieved a record profit of €32.278 billion this year. If the profits of Bankinter and Unicaja are added to that figure, the final total is €34 billion, more than double what they earned just four years ago (€16.289 billion).

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