This paper analyses the evolution of Savings Banks in Spain during the last decades of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. The effects of the regulation and public intervention are analysed, as well as the creation of corporative and representative organisms of Savings Banks. It also reviews the consolidation of the Savings Banks in the financial-banking system. The regional focus is applied to show the strategies used by these financial institutions, in order to understand their growth. Between 1880 and 1936 the Savings Banks played an important role in the financial domestic system, adapting their services to their clients' demands. In this way the Savings Banks confronted the private big banking sector in order to attract more clients, mainly middle and working classes in urban and rural areas. Finally Savings Banks became an important instrument of the social policy of governments, especially through the investment in public debt.
