After years of decline, access to the most basic banking services in rural Spain has begun to rebound, driven by a decisive push from the Ministry of Economy and a focused response to the sector’s needs. Last year, assets in service coverage shrank to 2,930 municipalities from 3,230 in 2021, representing a continuing challenge for a portion of the population. In 2021, 657,557 people lived in municipalities without physical banking access; this figure fell to 559,602 in the following year, accounting for 1.19 percent of the Spanish population. If non-bank ATMs and cash-out options in shops are included, the picture becomes even tighter: 2,797 municipalities and 494,916 residents, about 1 percent of the population, remained outside traditional banking hubs. The gaps show a decrease of 433 municipalities and 162,641 people compared with 2021.
That situation is captured in a report prepared for bank employees by the Valencian Institute for Economic Research (IVY). The study, obtained by El Periódico de Catalunya (Prensa Ibérica group), assesses how well the countryside plan is being implemented and what remains to be done. It notes the plan was designed to improve financial access for the elderly and to ease mortgage-related pressures. As such, a forthcoming meeting is anticipated, with participation from Vice President Nadia Calviño, major employer associations, and consumer groups to review progress and next steps under the plan.
The economy argues that a solid domestic climate helps explain the lower take-up of the mortgage plan and calls for industry data to back that claim.
The government appears satisfied with the rural Spain initiative and broader outreach. It expects a level of uptake that aligns with the Code of Good Practice for mortgages, with some estimates suggesting around 15,000 cases rather than higher numbers. The ministry views this as a signal that financial conditions have improved since the agreement was signed last November. In preparation for a fuller understanding of demand, officials have asked the industry to bring forward scenarios, including the implications of existing mortgage renegotiations and early repayments that fall outside the plan. A separate tension in the public discourse involved debates around deposit rates, which have influenced market expectations and added a layer of market uncertainty ahead of the talks.
Private label ATMs
The rural Spain plan includes a commitment to delivering face-to-face financial services across the territory. The goal is to cover 100 percent of the area, with a two-block split based on municipal size: towns with more than 500 residents are treated differently from smaller communities. In 2021 the number of excluded municipalities stood at 243; by 2022 that figure had dropped to 164. A quarterly update will show the evolving numbers between January and March. Additional measures are expected in the coming months, with several agreements and tenders underway; municipal elections have slowed some processes. The size of the excluded population in this group is projected to fall from about 211,550 residents in 2021 to roughly 88,000 in the near term.
Consequently, banks extended services to more municipalities. Between December 2021 and last March, 69 new towns with populations over 500 gained access to at least one office, including a new facility in Cáceres and branches established in postal networks, with some locations offering cash withdrawal and deposit services. Non-bank ATMs were not counted in the initial 2021 study.
Looking ahead, around 55 more municipalities with populations over 500 are expected to gain access in the coming months. About 57 percent of the towns identified as underserved at the end of 2021 will have benefited by October, a year after the plan’s signing. The second activation phase will include white-label ATM deployments. In recent weeks, cost-sharing arrangements have formed among organizations to implement these machines through a national payment company, with not all banks as partners.
Office alternatives
For municipalities with fewer than 500 residents, alternative solutions are under consideration, such as Cash Post services (delivery of cash by postal workers) or cash-back options and in-store cash access. In this smaller group, the number of excluded municipalities fell by 354 from 2,987 in 2022 to 2,639, aided by non-bank ATMs and in-store cash access. The population without service decreased from 93,083 to 352,924 people.
The total count of municipalities without a bank office in the previous year rose to 4,533, but many still feature a teller, a financial intermediary, mail outreach, or mobile banking units. The year-over-year reduction in the unattended population reached around 300 people, with an additional 133 residents served via cash-back or non-bank ATM solutions.
The report notes that despite fewer bank branches overall (from 1,367 to 17,648 across the country), Spain still ranks among Europe’s more dynamic networks by branch density, with 2,463 residents per branch compared to a European average of 3,232. ATMs also declined last year, reaching 45,233 machines, placing Spain in the European mid-range for access. The analysis projects 4,533 municipalities without any bank branch by the close of 2022, with 78.3 percent, or 3,550 towns, lacking a branch back in 2008. The current trend indicates that branch closures are increasingly concentrated in towns that previously had at least one bank office.
regional differences
Looking by autonomous communities, the highest shares of the population without access are found in Castile and León (about 10.1%), Navarre (4.6%), Aragon (2.6%), Castile-La Mancha (1.8%), Extremadura (1.6%), the Basque Country (1.1%), and La Rioja (1.1%). In contrast, some regions show almost no excluded residents, including the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Murcia, Ceuta, and Melilla, with low levels in Andalusia, Galicia, and Madrid. By province, Zamora stands out with about 21.9% excluded, while Burgos, León, and Salamanca also show elevated figures. Overall, improvements in 2022 helped about 26,500 people in 120 municipalities across Castile and León via implemented solutions.