Bankia was formed on 3 December 2010, as a result of the union of seven Spanish savings banks that had a major presence in their historical core regions.

The most toxic assets from the banks were transferred to BFA, which obtained €4.5 billion from the Spanish government rescue fund FROB in exchange for preference shares with an annual interest rate of 7.75%, maturing in 2015.

[9] The shares of Bankia began trading on the Bolsa de Madrid on 20 July 2011, under the symbol BKIA, and the bank was listed in the IBEX 35.

[8] On 7 May 2012, Rodrigo Rato stepped down as chairman of Bankia SA, in order to clear the way for a rescue plan that the Spanish government hoped would persuade international investors of the country's financial stability.

Concerns about the value of Bankia's assets, and the potential for further losses in the future, prompted speculation that the Spanish government would inject up to €10 billion of new capital into the troubled bank.

[11][13] The New York Times described the increasing bailout as making Spain one of the new focal points of the European sovereign-debt crisis.

[14] In response to growing concerns, Standard & Poor's downgraded its rating of Bankia's creditworthiness to BB+, making it a junk bond.

[12] In the end, the rescue plans approved by the European Commission on 27 June 2012 under state aid rules included an equity injection for €4465 million and a liquidity guarantee of €19 billion to BFA, 12 of which would be provided to Bankia.

[18] In 2013, Bankia Bolsa was acquired by the Catalan entity GVC (founded by the president of the Barcelona Stock Exchange, Joan Hortalà).

[23] At the end of 2015, Bankia had fulfilled two years ahead of schedule all the targets set by the European Commission in the BFA-Bankia Group Restructuring Plan.

[26] On 27 June 2017, Bankia agreed to acquire state-owned bank BMN (Banco Mare Nostrum) for €825 million in an all-stock deal.

[36] Bankia sold around €5 billion in complex financial products such as preference shares and subordinated debt to customers.

Instead, Madrid's chief prosecutor tried to initiate legal actions against the media that spread the emails of Blesa, because they were "illicitly obtained".

[41][42] In January 2022, Carlos San Juan de Laorden, a retired urologist from Valencia with Parkinson's disease started an online petition for more human customer care at bank branches.

[43] He gathered more than 600,000 signatures in 2 months, asking banks and other institutions to serve all citizens, and not discriminate the oldest and most vulnerable members.