Various methodologies are compared in this study in an attempt to measure bank competition in Spain by type of institution (commercial or savings banks) and by region for the period 1986-1999. The main results reveal a limited predictability power of Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm to measure bank competition. As a second approach, the computation of the Rosse-Panzar H-statistic shows the existence of monopolistic competition in most of the markets analysed. Besides, the Lerner index obtained from marginal costs estimation using a translog function indicates the stability of these competitive conditions, although it shows a particularly relevant rise in competition in the savings banks sector after branching liberalisation, as well as some significant differences across regions.

Key words: banks, competition, regional markets.
JEL classification: G21, R51.