This study examines whether the transition from a system of multiple issuing banks to a monopoly on currency issuance was a step in the Bank of Spain's becoming a central bank in the true sense of the word (a non-profit-maximizing institution); or on the contrary, whether the Bank used its...

This paper explores why Spanish banks internationalise and why Latin America has been the main region for the international expansion of BBVA and Santander. It shows that prior to 1986 Spanish banks had a limited presence abroad, and analyses the main drivers of this initial expansion...

The objective of this paper is to study the financial crises that have occurred in Spain over the last 150 years. With this objective in mind, the paper has two main purposes. Firstly, we determine the number of crises that took place between 1850 and 2000 considering currency, banking and stock...

Among the characteristics of Spanish financial crises over the last 165 years, we highlight their relatively high frequency and, since 1973, their severity (including 2008, the most severe crisis yet). By analysing monetary policy regimes, financial structure, and the main crisis determinants...