The Spanish stock market consists of 4 stock exchanges, each located in a different region of the country, all of which are operated by Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) which is Europe's fourth biggest exchange operator by equity turnover. Of these 4 stock exchanges in Spain, the largest and oldest is the Bolsa de Madrid which was founded in 1831 and is located in Madrid, Spain's capital and economic centre. The Bolsa de Madrid lists many prominent multinational companies with a global reputation, that are actively traded such as Banco Santander, Repsol, Telefónica, Inditex and the NH Hotel Group.
The BME publishes the IBEX 35, a market capitalization weighted index that tracks the performance of the 35 most liquid Spanish stocks traded on the Bolsa de Madrid. Apart from stocks, the exchanges also support bonds, fixed income securities, government and private-sector debt. Trading is linked through SIBE, a single electronic and trading system that handles more than 90% of transactions.
