Banking concentration, digitization and the search for efficiency have resulted in recent years not only in a reduction in the number of offices, but also in a change in their territorial distribution. After a decade, the results can already be clearly seen: the Canary Islands continue to be the autonomous community with the fewest branches per inhabitant, but Catalonia and Madrid have climbed several places in the particular ranking to occupy the second and third positions.
According to data from the INE and the Bank of Spain, in 2013 there were 46.8 million inhabitants in Spain and 37,465 bank branches, that is, one for every 1,249 inhabitants. That year, the digitalization of banking had not yet begun in earnest, but the banking map had indeed begun to be simplified after the crisis of the savings banks, in which it would go from more than 60 entities to just one tenth
When 2022 ended, there were around 47.6 million inhabitants in Spain and around 17,735 branches: one for every 2,683 people. Branches have ceased to be necessary for many users, the use of cash has fallen with covid and the banking workforce in Spain has gone from 215,000 workers in 2013, according to the ECB, to around 126,000 in 2022, according to the figures of the banks themselves. The distribution of the offices has also changed.
The Canary Islands and La Rioja remain at the bottom of the classification. The first has gone from having one office for every 1,702 inhabitants to one for every 3,638 inhabitants in ten years, which makes it in both cases the autonomous community with the worst coverage. La Rioja has not ceased to be the best, despite the fact that it has gone from a branch for 755 people to one for 1,492 people.
In the ranking, what has happened to Catalonia and Madrid stands out, with greater population density and facilities for digitization. In Catalonia, it has gone from tenth position in number of offices per inhabitant in 2013, with 1,226, to second, with 3,482, only behind the Canary Islands. Madrid, with 1,331 inhabitants per office ten years ago, has moved from fifth to third place, with 3,369. In the Mediterranean, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands have also climbed several places.
There are other autonomous communities which, on the other hand, are now doing better in relative terms. Andalusia has moved from second to eighth place and Galicia from third to ninth. The Basque Country, Asturias, Castile-La Mancha, Navarre or Extremadura, despite the fact that they have lost offices, are now better off compared to other regions.
At the end of last year, the entity with by far the most branches in Spain was CaixaBank, with 4,081, despite having cut the number as a result of the integration with Bankia. It is followed at a great distance by Santander, with 1,913, and BBVA, with 1,886.
Sabadell has 1,228 branches, and Bankinter, with 597, according to the same entities. Of the old savings banks, Unicaja is, after CaixaBank, the one with the most branches, with 969. In its case, last year’s cut was the highest in the banking sector, of 29%, due to the integration with Liberbank.
The resistance to the closure of offices has yielded results in rural areas and in the treatment of the elderly, the two areas in which the central government has closed agreements with the banks. A few days ago, both Minister Nadia Calviño and bank representatives were satisfied with the progress achieved in financial inclusion.
