A crise financeira recente provocou unha importante transformación dossistemas financeiros nacionais, en especial, no que se refire ao protagonismo dalgúnsgrupos institucionais tradicionalmente importantes. É o caso do sector das caixas deaforros en España, o cal viuse afectado de forma moi significativa, e por enriba doacontecido noutros grupos institucionais, polas tempestades financeiras dos últimos anos.Coñecer os cambios que se produciron neste importante sector do noso país, tanto a nivelestrutural como de operativa e de presenza no territorio nacional, e tratar de buscar o seuparalelismo cos doutros países nos que estas entidades teñen unha maior relevancia sonos obxectivos perseguidos por este traballo.The recent financial crisis has caused an important transformation of thenational financial systems and especially in those that refer to the prominence of sometraditionally important institutional groups. This is the case of the saving banks sector inSpain which has been affected in a very significant way and because of what has occurredin other institutional groups by the financial storms in the last few years. This essay isaimed at understanding the changes that have been produced in this important sector ofour country, both in a structural level and an operational one, and at the national level,and trying to draw a parallel between those in other countries in which these entities havea major relevance.