What was the influence, if any, of gross international capital flows on credit booms that could be observed in some countries undergoing a real estate boom before the Great Financial Crisis? What was the main driver for external debt over the late 1990s and 2007 in countries that later experienced a protracted recession? Was it current account deficits or, rather, did bank credit cause growing external debt? These are the questions this paper dwells upon and we focus on the recent Spanish experience as it is a representative example of these issues. The distinction between gross and net capital flows plays a pivotal role in the discussion.