. following the collapse in gdp during the hard years of recession, spain, supported by the european central bank ’ s measures, has reached an annual growth rate of 2. 8 % over the last five years, well above the european average. spurred by the need to search for new markets during the years in which domestic demand tightened4, spanish businesses have managed to find opportunities overseas and many are now global leaders in their sectors. spanish society has worked very hard to return to economic growth after almost a decade marked by the crisis, and it has done so while remaining true to its commitment to europe. 40 years ago the spanish people voted for a better country – one that was democratic, open and modern. the 1978 constitution and the process of european integration have enabled us to make this better country a reality. 1 the text was published as an op - ed in expansion on 6 december 2018. 2 see the survey entitled “ europe as seen from spain and france ” ( europa vista desde espana y francia ), elcano royal institute, march 2018. 3 see “ the international role of the euro ”, ecb interim report, june 2018. 4 see almunia, miguel, pol antras, david lopez - rodriguez, and eduardo morales. 2018. “ venting out : exports during a domestic slump ”. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

today is a good exponent of a long - standing tradition that has led the banco de espana to promote and sponsor economic history research, and to highlight the value of the documentary and bibliographical collection in our historical archives and in our library. the list of eminent personalities from our central bank noted for their love of history and its study is a long one. and it is this tradition that has enabled the banco de espana to continue promoting economic history research. many of these figures were my predecessors as governors or directors general of what was then known as the research department. 3 / 5 others, who collaborated with them, then went on, in many cases, to pursue brilliant careers in academia and research. indeed, some are here with us today. for the sake of brevity, and so as not to run the risk of missing anybody out, i will not mention in detail those who continued the work of the pioneers mariano rubio, angel madronero and joan sarda back in the 1960s. as a tribute to their work and following in their wake, i shall, without being exhaustive, set out some of the projects that our bank currently has under way or on the drawing board in terms of promoting economic history studies. firstly, the banco de espana regularly organises conferences focusing on the discussion of aspects relating to economic history. this year, for example, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the stabilisation plan, the banco de espana will, next october, be organising a conference in barcelona focusing on the analysis of the plan. it will likewise pay tribute to the figure of joan sarda. i trust you will be able to join us at this conference. also, since 2015 the bank has organised annually a top - level international economic history conference aimed at academia. in recent years, both our central bank researchers and external researchers financed by us have been selected to present their papers. in this year ’ s edition, the conference has been jointly organised with the cepr ’ s economic history section. secondly, since 2009, the banco de espana has had a biannual programme in place for economic history research grants. under the programme, universities commit themselves, following an agreement signed with the bank, to pursuing the research selected and to presenting and publishing their findings. the possibility of collaboration between researchers from both institutions is also envisaged. since 1980, under the initial backing of luis angel rojo, the bank has published a collection of monographs relating to