The Iberian Pulse: Talent, Capital and a Single Strategic Vision

Spain and Portugal are consolidating an increasingly integrated economic space, creating new opportunities for investment, infrastructure and the energy transition. In this context, José Ramón Vizmanos, Head of BBVA CIB in Iberia, analyzes Iberia’s potential as a platform to mobilize capital, connect markets and support companies’ international growth.

When the new 400 kV electricity interconnection between Spain and Portugal was inaugurated this summer, adding nearly 1,000 MW of interconnection capacity, we witnessed more than an engineering milestone. It is also a fitting metaphor for a much deeper economic transformation: borders carry less and less weight in the investment, growth and financing decisions of leading companies. For major investment funds and corporations, the historic border drawn on the map has long since begun to fade. Today, large-scale infrastructure projects span geographies, companies seek scale through M&A transactions, and capital flows towards wherever it finds the best opportunities. Increasingly, the Iberian Peninsula operates as a single playing field.

And if our clients operate in this way, we, as their financial partners, must do the same. Spain and Portugal are strengthening their role in strategic areas such as infrastructure and the energy transition, combining renewable resources, industrial capacity and a growing ecosystem around technologies such as hydrogen, biomethane, synthetic fuels and energy storage. The challenge is to mobilise capital and expertise to build new value chains at an Iberian and European scale.

"The challenge is to mobilise capital and expertise to build new value chains at an Iberian and European scale"

That is the logic that led us, just over a year ago, to build a single Corporate & Investment Banking platform for Spain and Portugal. The primary objective was to better connect our knowledge of clients, sector specialisation, product capabilities and BBVA's international network, so that we could support them with a single, integrated perspective. Since then, investment volumes linked to BBVA's activity in Spain have increased by 26%, signalling the opportunities that emerge when teams and resources work in a more integrated manner. And that strength has also received external recognition: at year-end 2025, Mergermarket named BBVA "Iberia Financial Adviser of the Year", after we had led 18 significant transactions over the preceding twelve months.

Complementarity is particularly important here. The depth of product expertise and specialisation developed in Spain can be brought to bear for the benefit of clients, while our banking presence in Portugal allows us to combine CIB capabilities with a broader local relationship. The talent and expertise of both teams complete a model in which opportunities are identified close to the client, but executed with the depth of Spain's product hub and the full capabilities of a global CIB franchise.

And Iberia's value does not end at the Peninsula's borders. It can also serve as a gateway to some of the international corridors most relevant to our clients. Brazil is a good example: a historic corridor for Portugal and, at the same time, a strategic geography for many major Spanish groups. Sharing relationships and market intelligence allows us to anticipate capital flows, connect players and identify opportunities that might go unnoticed from a fragmented perspective. That, in my view, is one of the great strengths of a global CIB franchise. Iberia must operate in both directions: integrating opportunities within the Peninsula and projecting them towards the international corridors in which our clients operate.

"Iberia must operate in both directions: integrating opportunities within the Peninsula and projecting them towards the international corridors"

Iberia's potential is reflected both in its industrial and energy capabilities and in its ability to attract investment, build partnerships and mobilise capital at scale. Viewing Iberia as a single ecosystem has ceased to be an innovative option and become an essential market requirement. A significant part of Europe's industrial and energy future is being shaped in the south, and only those capable of erasing the borders from their strategic vision will be in a position to lead it.