Léopold is an analyst in the Strategic Planning Department. He graduated from the Analysis and Policy in Economics programme at the Paris School of Economics, after studying at the universities of Panthéon-Sorbonne and Toronto. Before joining CaixaBank , Léopold had several experiences in both Europe and Latin America: he was an economic journalist at the French financial daily newspaper Les Echos and worked as an economist at the French Embassy in Buenos Aires and as an economist for Southern Europe at the Crédit Agricole Group. In Madrid, he coordinated the monitoring of macro-financial developments in Latin America, first at Telefónica and, more recently, at Mutua Madrileña, where he was also responsible for the analysis of monetary policy and the Spanish financial sector. Within the Strategic Planning team, his main areas of research include monitoring the macro-financial outlook in Spain and trends that could affect the supply and demand for financial services.
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María is an economist in the International Economics & Markets Department. Graduated in Economics and Master in Industrial Economics and Markets from the Carlos III University. Before joining CaixaBank, he worked as an analyst in the Economics area of Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Afi), as a research economist in the Department of Studies and Statistics of INVERCO and at Telefónica, and as a research assistant in the Research Service of the Bank of Spain. His areas of interest cover both macroeconomics and microeconomics and the use of quantitative tools.
David is an economist in the International Economics and Markets Department. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Castilla-La Mancha and a Master's degree in Economics and Finance from the Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI). Before joining CaixaBank, he worked as an economist at the European Commission, the Bank of Spain, BBVA and Analistas Financieros Internacionales (Afi). His main area of study is macroeconomics, with an emphasis on long-term growth factors, international trade and structural transformations in the global economy.
Enric is Head of Strategic Planning and Research and Chief Economist at CaixaBank. First degree from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Master and Doctorate in Economics from the University of Chicago and a graduate of the Program for Management Development at IESE Business School. After earning his Doctorate, he worked for six years at the International Monetary Fund, monitoring various emerging economies and designing and negotiating a range of financial assistance programmes. He joined CaixaBank in 2006 and, since 2016, has led the Strategic Planning and Research team. He sits on the Executive Committee of the boards of FEDEA (Foundation for Applied Economic Studies), the Real Instituto Elcano, the Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB) and the Institute of Political Economy and Governance (IPEG), as well as being a member of the Editorial Board of the Revista Econòmica de Catalunya, published by the College of Economists of Catalonia, and of the Expert Group for PwC's Consenso Económico.
Josep Mestres Domènech is a lead economist in the Spanish Economy Unit of CaixaBank Research. He has a PhD in Economics from University College London and a Master in Economics from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Before joining CaixaBank he worked as an economist in the Employment and Social Policy Department (DELSA) of the OECD, in the divisions of International Migration and Employment. His areas of study include labour economics, immigration economics and public policy in general. He is currently Analytics coordinator in CaixaBank Research, which includes the Real-Time Economics portal.
The arrival of the pandemic was a severe blow to a sector that was already going through a delicate situation due to trade tensions and disruptions in the automotive industry at a European level. The fall in manufacturing activity in Q2 2020 was sharper than the decline in the economy as a whole, although its subsequent recovery was more vigorous. Some sectors, such as textiles, footwear and beverages and even automobiles, were hit hard and are recovering more slowly, while other sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and food, were hardly affected at all. The lifting of restrictions, progress made with vaccinations and reduction in uncertainty will help to revive consumption and flows of international tourists, all of which are vital to our economy, and this in turn will support manufacturing.
The coronavirus pandemic took the world by surprise and brought international tourism almost to a complete halt. The initial phases of a relative recovery are restoring connectivity between those outbound markets and tourist destinations that have controlled the spread of the coronavirus. However, the sector will have to undertake a far-reaching and rapid transformation to adapt to the new, post-COVID-19 international tourist who will demand more personalised, flexible and, above all, safer services.
Do you want to know the trends of the Spanish economy in an easy and intuitive way? To monitor wages, consumption, tourism, housing affordability and inequality in Spain, by region, age, sex or income level? In this video we show you how CaixaBank Research's Real-time Economics portal works and why it is pioneering in the processing and visualization of internal data.
Due to the pandemic, the current situation of the Spanish economy is very complex. The case of retail is no exception, although it is proving to be remarkably resilient in the face of all the restrictions on opening hours and capacity adopted in order to curb the pandemic. As revealed by the sector’s demand and employment indicators, retail trade is now close to, but below, its pre-COVID level. Despite this, an analysis of CaixaBank’s internal data shows very different figures for large and small companies, as well as for the different branches of activity, confirming that the sector has yet to recover completely.
This new edition of the Real Estate Sector Report (S1 2026) analyses recent dynamics and the outlook for the sector in Spain, highlighting the main challenges that will shape market trends and price pressures in the coming years: the deterioration of affordability, the shortage of available housing and territorial imbalances. The rental cost burden among Spaniards is also examined in depth through the analysis of high-frequency internal data.
Within a context of gradual recovery in the Spanish economy throughout 2021, the real estate market has displayed a very positive trend, especially in terms of demand. Despite the challenges of 2022, the forecast is for house sales to reach 500,000 and prices to grow by around 4%.
After a year in which demand for housing exceeded all expectations, in 2023 we expect the real estate market to cool down, the first signs of which have already begun to be perceived.
The Spanish real estate sector consolidates its expansionary phase in 2025: sales are growing strongly, but supply remains insufficient to meet demand, especially in provinces with greater demographic pressure and tourist demand. In this latest report, together with the situation and outlook for the sector, we analyse in depth the accumulated housing deficit throughout the territory, as well as the new profile of non-resident foreign buyers.
In a context marked by the uncertainty generated by the tariff tensions, a topic to which we devote several articles, in this Monthly Report we update the economic forecast scenario for 2025 and 2026. We also review the forecasts for the Spanish real estate market, which is in the midst of a boom, and evaluate the economic recovery of the province of Valencia six months after the floods.
Analyzing of consumption growth since May 2021, when the last state of emergency ended, we can see that the recovery in spending on transport, and especially on leisure, hospitality and tourism, was particularly strong. The sectors hardest hit by the restrictions (most of them still in force in Q1 2021) are therefore the ones that are recovering the most. On the other hand, consumer durables (furniture, textiles, etc.) have benefitted much more modestly from the pick-up in consumption, as will be seen below, while spending on basic necessities has fallen (except among low-income households), partly because these goods can be replaced by the services offered by the hospitality industry.
After the strong recovery undergone by the tourism sector last summer, the activity indicators published up to December showed no signs of slowing down.