According to Gibobs, the European Central Bank held its three key interest rates unchanged on 23 July 2026, keeping the deposit facility rate at 2,25% after raising it by 25 basis points in June, the first hike in nearly three years. The decision came in a meeting shaped by the renewed conflict between Iran and the United States and by rising energy costs, with the ECB leaving the door open to a further move in September, when new economic projections are due.
The pause did not stop the Euribor, the reference index for most Spanish variable-rate mortgages, from climbing further. Its provisional average for July 2026 stands at around 2,817%, according to Gibobs, the highest level since October 2024. June had been practically flat at 2,798%, only six thousandths of a point below May, but the index resumed its upward path sharply in July: on 23 July alone the daily rate jumped to 2,947%, one of the largest single-session increases of recent weeks, per Gibobs.
The year-on-year comparison illustrates the scale of the move. In July 2025 the monthly average stood at 2,079%, meaning the current provisional figure represents an increase of nearly three quarters of a percentage point, or 0,738 points, according to Gibobs. For context, the source recalls that the Euribor's all-time high was reached in July 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis, when it climbed to 5,393%.