The ECB raised rates to 2,5%: what it means for your mortgage in Spain

What the ECB decided

At its meeting on 10 September the ECB raised its three interest rates by 0,25 points each. They took effect on 16 September:

• Deposit facility: 2,5%
• Main refinancing operations: 2,65%
• Marginal lending facility: 2,9%

The ECB said the conflict in the Middle East "continues to generate inflation pressures", and its staff scenarios looked at how an energy shock could feed through to prices. It didn't say whether more rises are coming. It will decide "meeting by meeting", depending on the data.

Inflation is the reason. Euro area inflation was 3,2% in August (Eurostat's final figure, 2,9% in July). Spain's is higher: the INE's flash estimate for September is 4,9%, up from 4,3% in August.

What happened to the Euribor

Your bank doesn't use the ECB's rate. Most variable mortgages in Spain follow the 12-month Euribor, which moves with what markets expect the ECB to do. It had been climbing before the decision.

Month	12-month Euribor, monthly average
September 2025	2,172%
July 2026	2,855%
August 2026	2,954%
September 2026	3,247%

Monthly averages as published by Euribor trackers (euribor.com.es, Idealista).

In the first days of October the daily figure was a little under September's average, around 3,18% to 3,19%.

What it does to a variable mortgage

At each review, your bank takes the Euribor figure the contract names (usually the average of a month or two before) and adds your spread. Then it works out the payment again.

Say you have €150.000 left to pay over 25 years at Euribor + 0,8%, with an annual review that uses September's figure:

	Rate	Monthly payment
Last year (Euribor 2,172%)	2,972%	€709,13
This year (Euribor 3,247%)	4,047%	€795,65
Difference		+€86,52 a month, about €1.038 a year

Our calculation, standard French amortisation. Your figure depends on what you still owe, the years left and your spread.

Kelisto estimates that the average mortgage reviewed on September's Euribor goes up €103 a month (11,6%). For mortgages reviewed every six months, it puts the rise at around €67.

If your mortgage is mixed, you only feel this once the fixed years end.

What's happening to fixed rates

Banks are raising their fixed and mixed offers. HelpMyCash's tracker lists only rises since mid-September, for example:

• Bankinter: fixed from 3,2% to 3,5%, mixed (5 years fixed) from 2,65% to 2,95% (28 September).
• ABANCA: fixed from 2,95% to 3,15% (8 October).
• Unicaja: fixed from 3,1% to 3,2% (9 October).
• ING: Naranja Fija from 3,85% to 4% (14 September).

These are headline rates. What you get depends on your profile and on what else the bank asks you to take, like payroll, insurance or cards.

If you have a mortgage, or are about to

• Check your next review date and which month's Euribor your deed uses. That tells you which number to plug in.
• If you're buying, ask for the FEIN, the bank's binding offer, and compare the full cost (the TAE), not just the headline rate. An offer from last month may already have changed.
• Fixed or variable is a bet on where rates go next, and the ECB isn't saying. Compare what each costs you if the Euribor goes up another point, and if it falls by one.
• Switching from variable to fixed, with your bank or another, has a capped fee for most mortgages: at most 0,15% of what you owe in the first three years, and nothing after that (Ley 5/2019). Ask both banks for the full numbers, notary and registry included.

The ECB's next decision is due on 29 October.