Bank of Spain

"Banco de España" redirects here. For the metro station, see Banco de España (Madrid Metro).

Bank of Spain
Banco de España



The Bank of Spain Building in Madrid, hosting the Banco de España since 1891.
HeadquartersBank of Spain Building, Calle de Alcalá, Madrid
Coordinates40°25′06″N 3°41′41″W / 40.41833°N 3.69472°W / 40.41833; -3.69472
Established2 June 1782; 242 years ago (1782-06-02)
Ownership100% state ownership[1]
GovernorJosé Luis Escrivá
Central bank ofGovernment of Spain
Reserves€98.19 billion
9,1 million troy ounces (July 2024)[2]
Preceded byBank of San Fernando
Succeeded byEuropean Central Bank (1999)1
Websitewww.bde.es
The Bank of Spain still exists but many functions have been taken over by the ECB.

The Bank of Spain (Spanish: Banco de España) is Spain's central bank and the Spanish member of the Eurosystem and has been the monetary authority for Spain from 1874 to 1998, issuing the Spanish peseta. Since 2014, it has also been Spain's national competent authority within European Banking Supervision.[3] It was originally established by Charles III in Madrid in 1782, as the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, and took its current name in 1856. Its activity is regulated by the Bank of Spain Autonomy Act. The bank doesn't translate its name to English but uses its Spanish name in all English communications.

The Bank of Spain holds 9.1 million troy ounces of gold (around 283 tons) (2019),[4] which are stored in its own vaults and in various institutions in London and New York.[5][6] According to IMF data, Spain ranks 20th among the 40 largest gold reserves in the world (as of July 2015).[7][8][9]

In January 2021, the snowstorm "Filomena" caused the clock at the Bank of Spain to freeze for the first time in 130 years. This occurred at 11:35 a.m. on Saturday, 9 January.[10][11][12]

  1. ^ Weidner, Jan (2017). "The Organisation and Structure of Central Banks" (PDF). Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek.
  2. ^ "Spanish Bank (website)" (PDF). Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  3. ^ "National supervisors". ECB Banking Supervision.
  4. ^ "Reservas internacionales y liquidez en moneda extranjera" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Functions and structure: Frequently asked questions". Banco de España. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015.
  6. ^ "La trampa mortal del Banco de España: su cámara acorazada". Diario ABC (in Spanish). 22 April 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Top 40 reported official gold holdings (as at June 2015)" is on the 24th page of the pdf file.
  8. ^ "Research - Latest World Official Gold Reserves". World Gold Council. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Annual Accounts of the Bank of Spain. Financial Year 2014 (4 MB)" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  10. ^ "'Filomena' congeló el reloj del Banco de España por primera vez en 130 años". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 14 January 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  11. ^ Kantha Jolly (14 January 2021). "One Vanilla". Diario ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  12. ^ Barrón, Íñigo de (13 January 2021). "Filomena congeló el reloj del Banco de España, que no detuvo ni la Guerra Civil". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 April 2024.