[3] It was originally established by Charles III in Madrid in 1782, as the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, and took its current name in 1856.

The Bank of Spain holds 9.1 million troy ounces of gold (around 283 tons) (2019),[4] which are stored in its own vaults and in various institutions in London and New York.

[7][8][9] In January 2021, the snowstorm "Filomena" caused the clock at the Bank of Spain to freeze for the first time in 130 years.

[10][11][12] Originally named the Banco Nacional de San Carlos, it was founded in 1782 by Charles III in Madrid, to stabilize government finances through its state bonds (vales reales) following the American Revolutionary War in which Spain gave military and financial support to the Thirteen Colonies.

Its assets included those of "Spanish capitalists, French rentiers, and several treasuries of Indian communities in New Spain" (colonial Mexico).

[15] Following the Napoleonic invasion of Spain during the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1813, the bank was owed more than 300 million reales by the state, placing it in financial difficulty.

Treasury Minister Luis López Ballesteros created a fund of 40 million reales in 1829 against which the bank could issue its own notes at Madrid.

Under the guidance of Ramón Santillán in the 1850s, the bank extended its operations to the cities of Alicante and Valencia and took the name, Banco de España.

Construction of the bank's headquarters building began in 1884 at the crossing of the Calle de Alcalá and the Paseo del Prado in Madrid.

When a new Governor is named, the Minister of Economy and Finance, in accord with procedure established by the Congress of Deputies, informs the competent parliamentary commission.