In an interview published by the Bank of Spain, Governor José Luis Escrivá said the central bank will release in the coming weeks a White Paper consolidating its analysis of the mortgage market and of the possible use of macroprudential measures on home lending. He did not announce a decision to impose limits and stressed that any borrower-based caps would be intrusive, affecting banks' private lending activity, and would only be considered if conditions warranted action to contain financial stability risks. Escrivá said the review looks not only at bank risk-taking but also at wider social effects, including greater inequality, a shift from home ownership to renting, and the exclusion of younger or lower-income households from the market. Spain's mortgage data allow the Bank of Spain to model different options, but any future measure would require very fine calibration. In the same interview, he argued that Europe should simplify the accumulated stock of banking rules and change how new rules are produced, said missing elements of banking union continue to hold back cross-border consolidation, and reiterated that Spain's housing problem is mainly a supply shortfall of about 750,000 homes compounded by licensing, land-use and construction bottlenecks.
Bank of Spain2026-06-22
Bank of Spain governor says mortgage lending White Paper is due in coming weeks and any caps would be intrusive
In an interview published by the Bank of Spain, Governor José Luis Escrivá said a White Paper on the mortgage market and possible macroprudential lending limits will be published in the coming weeks. He said no decision on caps has been announced and warned that any such measures would be intrusive and would need highly granular calibration because of their effects on financial stability, inequality and access to home ownership.