causar

A common, high-frequency verb meaning to cause: el humo causó la alarma (the smoke caused the alarm). It appears constantly in everyday explanations of cause and effect and in a handful of fixed collocations, most notably causar furor (to cause a sensation, to become a huge hit).

• La lluvia causó inundaciones en varias calles. — The rain caused flooding on several streets.
• Su discurso causó una gran controversia. — His speech caused a big controversy.
• La nueva canción está causando furor entre los jóvenes. — The new song is causing a sensation among young people.

Causar takes a direct object (causar problemas) rather than the preposition-heavy constructions some learners import from English — there's no de or por needed between causar and what it causes.

• expression "Causar furor" — A common fixed expression meaning to cause a sensation or become hugely popular or fashionable — widely used in Spanish-language media to describe something suddenly taking off.