By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Spain’s government has chosen Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernández de Cos as its preferred candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as European Central Bank president, Expansión reported Tuesday.

The newspaper cited five unnamed sources close to the process as saying contacts between de Cos and the team of First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo were “periodic” and had been taking place for months.

The government regards the former Banco de España governor as Spain’s “only realistic option” for the presidency, according to the report.

The Economy Ministry did not publicly confirm his candidacy, telling Expansión only that Spain intended to play an important role in the ECB’s next phase and would present a candidate commensurate with that ambition when the time came.

The report said that if Spain concluded it could not secure the presidency, it would put forward another candidate for a different ECB Executive Board position. It added that the possibility of Lagarde leaving before her term ends in October 2027 had accelerated succession discussions, which were expected to intensify after the summer.