There is a received wisdom that if you are a Spanish firm approaching a merger with a Portuguese ally, you should put on your kid gloves. Such is the sensitivity of relations between the two nations. Any hint of imperialism on the part of the Spanish and the Portuguese will run a mile, or so the stereotype goes. Portugal, after all, boasts Europe’s oldest borders and is not used to being invaded.
But the legal invasion rolled in nonetheless during the 1990s, with the advance party now well entrenched, and a second wave of firms steadily establishing themselves in one form or another in Lisbon. For its part, the Spanish market still draws Anglo-Saxon players, attracted by the country’s economic success. Lovells is the most recent example, announcing its Iberian launch in February this year.
