On 3 July 2026, Bank of Spain Deputy Governor Soledad Núñez took to the podium in Madrid to deliver the closing remarks at the 5th Conference on the Spanish Economy — a milestone gathering that brought together leading economists, policymakers, and financial researchers under the joint auspices of three of Spain's most respected institutions. The conference, co-organised by the Bank of Spain alongside the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) and the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), served as the culminating forum for what has grown into one of the country's most substantive recurring policy dialogues on macroeconomic and structural matters.
The fact that Deputy Governor Núñez was entrusted with the conference's closing address is itself significant. As one of the Bank of Spain's senior figures, her presence at the conclusion of a multi-day forum of this stature signals the institution's commitment to engaging directly with the academic and research community — not merely as a passive audience for external analysis, but as an active intellectual participant in shaping the economic debate. Closing remarks at events of this kind are rarely ceremonial; they tend to synthesise the key threads of discussion and plant institutional flags on contested policy terrain.
The 5th Conference on the Spanish Economy represents the continuation of a now well-established series that, in each iteration, has reflected the evolving pressures and priorities bearing down on Spain's economic framework. Over the course of its five editions, the conference has tracked a remarkable period of volatility and transition for the eurozone's fourth-largest economy: from the turbulence of the post-pandemic recovery, through the inflationary surge that forced the European Central Bank into its most aggressive tightening cycle in decades, to the more recent questions around productivity, competitiveness, and the structural transformation of labour markets.
CEMFI, as a co-organiser, brings a distinctly rigorous empirical lens to the proceedings. The institution — widely respected across European economic research circles — has historically served as a bridge between doctoral-level economic scholarship and the kind of applied policy analysis that central banks and finance ministries require. UIMP's role as a co-convener similarly reflects the broader ambition of embedding this conference within Spain's wider institutional and educational infrastructure, ensuring that the conversation does not remain confined to the narrow corridors of regulatory and monetary authority.
The choice of Madrid as venue grounds the conference in the Spanish capital's role as the nerve centre of both the nation's financial sector and its public policy apparatus. For an event that explicitly trains its attention on the Spanish economy — its near-term cyclical dynamics as much as its longer-run structural challenges — proximity to the ministries, regulators, and market institutions that shape economic outcomes is more than a logistical convenience. It reinforces the applied, policy-facing orientation that distinguishes this series from purely academic economics conferences.
The publication of Núñez's closing remarks by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on 1 September 2026 — nearly two months after the conference itself — is consistent with the BIS's established practice of archiving and disseminating central bank speeches through its global platform. This publication pathway lends the remarks an international audience and institutional permanence well beyond the original event, ensuring that the analytical and policy positions articulated by the Bank of Spain's Deputy Governor reach economists and financial policymakers across member jurisdictions.
What This Means for Spain's Policy Dialogue
The enduring significance of the Conference on the Spanish Economy lies less in any single edition and more in what the series as a whole represents: a structured, recurring commitment by the Bank of Spain to convene and participate in rigorous economic debate at the intersection of research and policy. Deputy Governor Núñez's closing remarks at the 5th edition — now preserved in the BIS speeches archive — extend that commitment into 2026, at a moment when Spain, like its eurozone peers, faces a dense and interconnected set of fiscal, monetary, and structural questions. The partnership with CEMFI and UIMP ensures that the conversation draws on the full depth of Spain's intellectual and institutional resources, rather than operating solely within the confines of central bank orthodoxy. For practitioners and analysts tracking Iberian economic policy, the BIS archive of this speech is a primary source worth careful attention.
Written by the editorial team — independent journalism powered by Codego Press.