Note 35 - Fee and commission income and expenses - Fee And Commission Expense (Details) - EUR (€) € in Millions	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Fee And Commission Income Expenses
Credit and debit cards	€ 798	€ 706
Transfers and other payment orders Expenses	65	49
Commissions for selling insurance	26	33
Other fee and commissions	302	285
Total Fee and commission expense (Income Statement)	€ 1,191	€ 1,073

The amount of fee expense associated to insurance products.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	bbva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of fee expense associated to credit and debit cards.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bbva_Creditanddebitcardsfeeexpense
Namespace Prefix:	bbva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of fee expense associated to transfers and other payments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bbva_Transfersandotherpaymentordersfeeexpense
Namespace Prefix:	bbva_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of expense relating to fees and commissions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
-Number 1
-IssueDate 2018-01-01
-Paragraph 85
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2018-03-01&anchor=para_85&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2018-03-16

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_FeeAndCommissionExpense
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_FeeAndCommissionIncomeExpenseAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of fee and commission expense that the entity does not separately disclose in the same statement or note. [Refer: Fee and commission expense]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
-Number 1
-IssueDate 2018-01-01
-Paragraph 112
-Subparagraph c
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2018-03-01&anchor=para_112_c&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2018-03-16

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_OtherFeeAndCommissionExpense
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration