Editorial — January 2026
We begin a new year in a global context marked by economic uncertainty, geopolitical tension and the intensification of social and environmental challenges that directly affect people’s lives and the cohesion of our territories. In this scenario, partial responses are no longer sufficient. It is essential to mobilise capital towards solutions that generate real, measurable and lasting impact, and to position impact finance as a key lever for transforming the economy and putting it at the service of the common good.
From SpainNAB, we face this start to the year with a clear roadmap, aligned with our Strategic Plan, and with a firm conviction: impact is not a future aspiration, but a collective responsibility of the present that admits no alternative prioritisation. Our focus will remain on channelling more and better capital towards major social and environmental challenges, strengthening the impact financing ecosystem — both on the supply side of capital and on the side of the ecosystem that generates impact — and accompanying public and private actors in their transition towards more transformative models. All of this without losing sight of the essential role of the social economy, impact enterprises and entrepreneurship, and territory-born initiatives as engines of real, inclusive and enduring solutions.
Some of the verticals we prioritise reflect with particular clarity the urgency of these challenges. In particular, access to social and affordable housing has consolidated as one of the main concerns in Spain and in many neighbouring countries. Price tensions, supply shortages and access difficulties for broad sections of the population are driving new regulatory measures, public policies and public-private collaboration schemes. We will continue to drive this vertical as a space for encounter and articulation between impact investors, social economy entities and public administrations, with the objective of mobilising capital towards solutions that expand the supply of housing with social impact, stability and a long-term vision.
This year also opens a strategic window for advancing in the mobilisation of private savings. The European Savings and Investments Union initiative and the Spanish proposal for the design of a savings and investment account offer an opportunity to bring investment closer to citizens and channel retail savings (with an estimated potential of €1.07 trillion) towards the real economy. Integrating impact investment into this framework would not only allow new resources to be mobilised, but also strengthen the link between people and collective challenges, generating greater citizen engagement in the construction of solutions that improve the lives of communities and territories.
All of this requires reinforcing the integrity and credibility of impact investment. In a context of growing — and sometimes deliberate — conceptual confusion, it is more necessary than ever to differentiate strategies that generate impact in an intentional and measurable way from ‘various-washing’ practices. The commitment to clear standards, rigorous measurement and tools such as the Code of Good Practices for impact investment is key to safeguarding the essence of impact and reinforcing the trust of investors, institutions and citizens.
We begin this new year with ambition, responsibility and a sense of purpose. In times of uncertainty, betting on impact means betting on real solutions, on an economy at the service of people and the planet. And doing so from collaboration, the social economy and integrity is the best way to accelerate the transformation we need.
Now more than ever, we need to bring together diverse wills, perspectives and capacities. We need an ecosystem that recognises itself as a community, that connects the financial with the social, the local with the global and purpose with real impact. SpainNAB wants to continue building that common space where those who believe in an economy at the service of people find alliances, voice and scale. Because impact is not built in isolation or from the margins: it is built together, from the territories, with transformative ambition and with the certainty that another economic model is not only possible, but necessary.
We will be happy to receive your proposals for continuing to advance along this path to impact (you can write to us at info@spainnab). We count on you!
