The central bank called the “Banco de España” is Spain’s central bank.
The institution was founded in Madrid in 1782 by King Charles III as the Banco Nacional de San Carlos. It later evolved through several institutional stages before adopting the name Banco de España in 1856. Its historic headquarters, an ornate landmark on Madrid’s Calle de Alcalá, remains closely associated with Spanish financial history.
Before Spain joined the euro system, the bank issued and managed the peseta and played a central role in national monetary policy. Since the euro’s introduction, responsibility for euro-area monetary policy rests with the European Central Bank, but the Banco de España remains Spain’s national central bank and participates in the Eurosystem.
A common mix-up is confusing the Banco de España with a commercial bank. It is a public institution responsible for functions such as banking supervision, payment systems, financial statistics and advising on monetary and economic matters. The name itself is simply Spanish for “Bank of Spain,” making the country clue unusually direct.