The benefits of the big banks known in the last week contrast with the crisis situation of ordinary Spaniards, who cannot buy a home (and start a family), You can’t emancipate yourself when you’re young. and is having more and more trouble maintaining his small business, and continue to lose purchasing power (610 euros less on average per year, according to the latest Adecco report).
He BBVA achieved a record net attributable profit of 8,019 million euros between January and December 2023, 22% more than the previous year. CEO Onur Genç stated that he expects to continue increasing its net profit in 2024. “Our forecasts include net profit continuing to grow,” he stated.
He Santander Bank also broke its record for the second consecutive year with an attributable net profit of 11,076 million euros, 15.3% more than the previous year. «Our objective is to deliver results in the short term and ensure that they grow and are sustainable in the future, and I am convinced that 2024 will be even better for Santander, with positive inertia in most of our businesses, despite the greater geopolitical risks and the slowdown of the global economy,” said the bank’s executive president, Ana Botín.
He Sabadell Bank closed 2023 with a profit of 1,332 million euros55.1% more than in 2022. The bank’s CEO, César González-Bueno, assured that these results are “a consequence of the profound transformation undertaken in recent years” and asserted that the bank’s solidity allows “a sharp increase in shareholder remuneration”.
Also CaixaBank made a net profit of 4,816 million euros in 2023compared to 3,129 million in 2022, which represents a 53.9% increaseand will distribute a dividend of 2,890 million.
Housing, cash
At the same time, 60% of homes are purchased without a mortgage, in cash… and the number of mortgage loans continues to fall. Those subscribed last September were 29.6% less than in the same month of 2022. And the average age of emancipation exceeds 30 years in Spain for the first time (30.3), according to the Emancipation Observatory of the Spanish Youth Council (CJE).
Furthermore, this month of January closed with a monthly increase in rental prices in Spain of 1.8%, settling at 12.4 euros per square meter. which represents the highest rental price in Spain in the historical series (in the last quarter the price rose 4.5% while in the last year there was an increase of 10.8%) and Spain lost 168 businesses a day in January, according to calculations by the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA). “If short-sighted policies continue, we will not be able to change the destructive trend that we have been suffering in recent years,” said UPTA president Eduardo Abad.
