Thus, we cannot work a monetary miracle, either legally or, above all, from a “fiduciary” perspective: any suspicion of fiscal dominance would lead to monetary mistrust, to a loss of confidence in the value of money, as observed in the past and, more recently, in certain emerging market economies. Let us be clear on this: the sharp rise in public debt is clearly the buffer mechanism that the 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  economy needs in the current circumstances. But it will have to be paid back in the long term and this will mean adopting a more effective management of public spending in the medium term. The central bank’s actions are conditioned by its price stability target and not by the fiscal needs of its individual member countries. To call this into question would be to jeopardise public confidence in the currency, which is one of the essential assets for guaranteeing economic prosperity. Likewise, undermining the independence of the central bank would be to diminish its power and its agility, which are precisely the strengths that protect our economy during a crisis. This is why I am placing so much emphasis on these two anchors. It is not through a somewhat rigid sense of conservatism, as suggested by a slightly lazy cliché. In the current low-inflation environment, our mandate in no way prevents us from innovating, acting, supporting the economy rapidly and powerfully. Indeed, it even creates the conditions for legitimate and efficient action.
A few years later, a group of researchers: Rafael Anes, Carlos Fernández Pulgar, Diego Mateo del Peral, Pedro Tedde and Gabriel Tortella, undertook a far-reaching project on the history of the Spanish banking system. The result was La banca española en la Restauración, published in 1974. Since then, a number of books have been published by the Bank of Spain, sometimes in collaboration with commercial editors. To mention just two of these books: El Servicio de Estudios del Banco de España, 1930-2000; and Un siglo de historia del sistema financiero español (in Spanish and English). Moreover, the early history of the Bank has been covered by three volumes written by Tedde de Lorca: El Banco de San Carlos (1782-1829); El Banco Español de San Fernando, 1829-1856; and El Banco de España y el Estado liberal, 1847-1874. The Banco de España has also shown its interest in Spanish economic history through its annual research grants programme, financing the collection of Estudios de Historia Económica (or, in Banco de España parlance, “the red books”). There are now 72 of these studies, the first ones dating back to 1980. The aim of the Banco de España with this collection is to disseminate economic history papers written by its own staff or by researchers to whom it has awarded grants, in order “to enhance knowledge of Spanish economic history, paying particular attention to quantitative aspects”.