Get Started with tidyBdE

tidyBdE is an API package that helps to retrieve data from Banco de España. The data is returned as a tibble, and the package automatically infers the format of each time-series (dates, characters, and numbers).

Search series

Banco de España (BdE) provides several time-series, either produced by the institution itself or compiled from other sources, such as Eurostat or INE.

The basic entry points for searching time-series are the catalogs (indexes). You can search for any series by name:

library(tidyBdE)

library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)
library(tidyr)


# Search GBP on "TC" (exchange rate) catalog
xr_gbp <- bde_catalog_search("GBP", catalog = "TC")

xr_gbp |>
  select(Numero_secuencial, Descripcion_de_la_serie) |>
  # To table on document
  knitr::kable()

Numero_secuencial	Descripcion_de_la_serie
573214	Tipo de cambio. Libras esterlinas por euro (GBP/EUR).Datos diarios

Note: BdE files are currently provided only in Spanish, as the institution works on an English version. Search terms should be provided in Spanish to obtain results.

Once you have found your series, you can load the GBP/EUR exchange rate using the sequential number reference (Numero_Secuencial):

seq_number <- xr_gbp |>
  # First record
  slice(1) |>
  # Get the ID
  select(Numero_secuencial) |>
  # Convert to numeric
  as.double()


seq_number
#> [1] 573214


time_series <- bde_series_load(seq_number, series_label = "EUR_GBP_XR") |>
  filter(Date >= "2010-01-01" & Date <= "2020-12-31") |>
  drop_na()

Plot series

The package also provides a custom ggplot2 theme based on BdE’s publications:

ggplot(time_series, aes(x = Date, y = EUR_GBP_XR)) +
  geom_line(colour = bde_tidy_palettes(n = 1)) +
  geom_smooth(method = "gam", colour = bde_tidy_palettes(n = 2)[2]) +
  labs(
    title = "EUR/GBP Exchange Rate (2010-2020)",
    subtitle = "%",
    caption = "Source: BdE"
  ) +
  geom_vline(
    xintercept = as.Date("2016-06-23"),
    linetype = "dotted"
  ) +
  geom_label(aes(
    x = as.Date("2016-06-23"),
    y = 0.95,
    label = "Brexit"
  )) +
  coord_cartesian(ylim = c(0.7, 1)) +
  theme_tidybde()

EUR/GBP Exchange Rate (2010-2020)

The package also provides convenience functions for a selection of the most relevant macroeconomic series, eliminating the need for manual searching:

# Data in "long" format

plotseries <- bde_ind_gdp_var("GDP YoY", out_format = "long") |>
  bind_rows(
    bde_ind_unemployment_rate("Unemployment Rate", out_format = "long")
  ) |>
  drop_na() |>
  filter(Date >= "2010-01-01" & Date <= "2019-12-31")

ggplot(plotseries, aes(x = Date, y = serie_value)) +
  geom_line(aes(color = serie_name), linewidth = 1) +
  labs(
    title = "Spanish Economic Indicators (2010-2019)",
    subtitle = "%",
    caption = "Source: BdE"
  ) +
  theme_tidybde() +
  scale_color_bde_d(palette = "bde_vivid_pal") # Custom palette on the package

Spanish Economic Indicators (2010-2019)

A note on caching

You can use tidyBdE to create your own local repository at a given local directory passing the following option:

options(bde_cache_dir = "./path/to/location")

When this option is set, tidyBdE will look for cached files in the bde_cache_dir directory and load them, speeding up data retrieval.

It is possible to update the data (i.e. after every monthly or quarterly data release) with the following commands:

bde_catalog_update()

# Or use update_cache = TRUE in most functions

bde_series_load("SOME ID", update_cache = TRUE)