Bank of Spain reports public debt at 101.6% of GDP in March 2026 down 1.7 percentage points year on year

The Bank of Spain published its quarterly statistics on public debt under the Excessive Deficit Protocol methodology, showing that Spanish general government debt stood at 101.6% of gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2026. That was 1.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier, even as the nominal stock of debt rose 4.3% year on year to EUR 1.74 trillion. By subsector, central government debt reached 93.6% of GDP, regional government debt 20.3%, local government debt 1.2% and social security debt 8.0%. Regional debt rose 2.6% year on year, with five autonomous communities remaining below the 13% of GDP reference threshold in Spain's fiscal stability law: Navarra, the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, Madrid and Asturias. The highest regional debt ratios were in the Valencian Community at 40.4%, Murcia at 31.1%, Catalonia at 27.8% and Castilla-La Mancha at 27.6%. Local government debt fell 9.5% from a year earlier, while debt held across public sector subsectors increased 3.7% to EUR 366 billion, or 21.4% of GDP. The debt stock remained concentrated in long-term liabilities, which accounted for 94.8% of the total, including 85.1% in long-term securities. The Bank of Spain said the advance monthly public debt data for April 2026 will be published on 19 June 2026, and the second-quarter 2026 quarterly data will be released on 30 September 2026.