The demand for consumer loans in Spain reached a new record in May 2025, the highest since the 2008 real estate crisis. Financial institutions approved transactions worth 3,873 million euros for the purchase of durable goods and services, a 15% increase year-on-year. This marks not only the best May in 17 years but also the highest level since July 2008, when it exceeded 4 billion euros.
Record Growth in Consumer Loans: Spain’s Economy on the Rise
So far in 2025, operations worth 17,961 million euros have been approved, an increase of almost 17% compared to the 15,300 million euros between January and May of the previous year, as reported by the Bank of Spain (BdE). The tailwinds for the Spanish economy, favorable outlook for the coming months, and contained unemployment are fertile ground for the revitalization of consumer credit.
Real Estate Prices as a Catalyst for Consumer Loans?
The Association of Financial Users (Asufin) adds the escalation of real estate prices as a factor contributing to this boom. For certain segments of the population, this effectively vetoes access to a mortgage. Asufin attributes part of this boom to the fact that rising property prices are forcing households to use improvements in household income for greater consumption of other types of products.
Asufin’s VII Consumer Credit Barometer confirms this trend, showing the highest willingness to apply for such a loan. This survey, based on opinions up to March, indicates that around 34% of users planned to apply for a consumer loan, the highest level since 2018 when they began compiling the report.
Popular Credit Goods and Conditions
The Cetelem Observatory, through its consumer barometer, monthly surveys Spaniards’ purchasing intentions for the next three months. In this regard, the intention to acquire new products focuses on segments such as tourism, sports apparel, electronic devices, furniture, and household appliances, which, although not necessarily paid for with loans, are typically among the goods families finance in this way. Additionally, the car remains the king of installment financing.
Consumer loans have a series of specific features. They are designed for personal needs with amounts ranging from 200 to 75,000 euros. They are structured to be easily accessible, as banks cushion themselves with higher interest rates. In May, the average cost was 6.97%, a level it has hovered around for the past five months. The vertical rise in money prices had led to a slight increase in their prices, peaking at over 8% in January 2024. From then on, it declined.
Outstanding Loan Balance at Record High
Against this backdrop, the volume of the outstanding balance, i.e., the amount of money still to be repaid, is unstoppable, reaching over 107,500 million euros in May. The last time it reached this level was in August 2008, just one month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. For the first time since the last recession, it exceeded the 100-billion-euro mark in March 2024, and it has continued its upward trend since then. The outlook for the coming months will remain in this vein as long as the economic outlook is maintained.
