Last Friday, the euro temporarily reached 0.9405 Swiss francs, its highest level since August 2025. In March, when the conflict in Iran began, a euro cost less than 90 centimes. Since then, the franc has been steadily losing ground. Those returning from Spain in recent weeks who paid by card have noticed this in practice: the same salary in francs buys fewer euros than last year. It is not that everything in Spain has gone up in price; it is simply that the exchange rate is working against us.
The main reason is technical but quite specific: the difference in interest rates between Switzerland and the eurozone. The European Union has set its key interest rate at 2.25 per cent and could raise it again in September. The Swiss National Bank, led by Martin Schlegel, maintains a policy of near-zero interest rates and has no plans to change this before 2027 or 2028. Given this difference, the markets favour the euro. The franc, which historically appreciates in times of crisis as a safe-haven currency, loses its appeal when geopolitical tensions ease.
For Spaniards living in Switzerland, the impact is quite direct. If you send money to Spain regularly, this year it costs you more francs to make the same transfer. If you have fixed expenses in euros (mortgage, family, car insurance in Spain), the same applies. Cross-border commuters who are paid in francs and spend in euros in France notice it every month, without anyone explaining why. And those who spent the summer in Spain and paid for dinners or petrol with their Swiss card already know what it’s all about. The only silver lining is for Swiss exporters, who sell in euros and are now taking in more money. But that’s a different debate altogether.