This book analyses the financial policies and institutions developed under the Franco regime over nearly four decades and how key actors - banks, savings banks, the foreign sector, the Banco de España and public debt management - were used to support the regimes economic objectives.
Situating Francoist financial policy within the broader European context of post-World War II financial repression, it highlights the distinctive features of the Spanish case, shaped by a political dictatorship that profoundly influenced both policy design and institutional practice. By combining institutional analysis with the study of regulation, financial mechanisms and historical evolution, the book offers a nuanced account of the financial history of Francoism and places Spain within broader postwar European patterns of financial interventionism.
Offering new empirical evidence, critical interpretations and comparative perspectives, this volume targets a broad academic audience, including undergraduates seeking an introduction to the Franco regimes financial system, postgraduate and PhD students requiring in-depth analysis for advanced research in economic history, as well as researchers and scholars interested in transnational approaches to economic policy and institutional development.
Introduction: Economy and Finance in Francos Spain
Joaquim Cuevas and María A. Pons
1. Financial Repression in the Golden Age of Economic Growth: Was Francos Spain Different?
Stefano Battilossi and Nicolás Varela
2. The Role of the Banco de España in the Spanish Financial System during the Franco Era
Elena Martínez-Ruiz and Pablo Martín-Aceña
3. Currency in Chains: The IEME and Spain's Path from Autarky to Developmentalism
Joseba de La Torre, Elena Martínez-Ruiz and Mar Rubio-Varas
4. Public Debt and Financial Repression under Franco's Regime
Francisco Comín and Joaquim Cuevas
5. Competition, Financial Regulation and Banking Supervision during the Franco Regime
Joaquim Cuevas, Josep Dols-Miró and María A. Pons
6. Savings Banks as an Instrument at the Service of Franco's Financial and Social Policy, 1940-1970
Pedro Fernández Sánchez and Ángel P. Martínez Soto
7. Public and Official Banks: Pillars of Francoist Economic Strategy
Joaquim Cuevas
Epilogue
Joaquim Cuevas and María A. Pons
