Like the rest of the world, Spain has suffered frequent financial crises and
undergone several changes in its regulatory framework. There have been
crises that have been followed by reforms of the financial structure, and also
troubled financial times with no modification of the regulatory and supervisory
regime. In various instances, regulatory changes have predated financial
crises, but in others banking crises have occurred without reference to
changes in the regulatory regime. Regulation and supervision has been
usually absent in the XIXth century, while in the XXth century policy makers
have been more active and diligent. Moreover, all major financial crises have
been followed by intense financial restructuring, although as elsewhere
banking restructuring and interventions not always have been successful (in
fact, the cases of failures and mixed results overcome the successful cases).
The paper provides a short history of the major financial crises in Spain from
1856 to the present, and also reviews the main financial reforms and the
distinctive regulatory regimes that have been in place in this last 150 years
time span