A few minutes before BBVA’s Annual General Meeting, held today in Bilbao, Francisco González met with reporters and shared his insights into BBVA’s evolution in 2016. He also pondered the economic situation, and analyzed the role of Spain in the global context.

On top of the issues that the banking industry as a whole was struggling with as a result of Spain being split in two and the constant shifting of its borders, Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya were affected by another player due to their origin: the Basque government. The autonomy achieved during the later stages of the Republic by the Basque region would lead José Antonio Aguirre’s government to make more than a few economic decisions during the conflict.