BBVA-Sabadell: general interest and too much European interest

BarcelonaIt's striking how quickly the European Commission, with a majority of the European People's Party (EPP), has issued warnings to the Spanish government following its decision to rule on the possible merger of BBVA and Sabadell based on the general interest, as provided for in state regulations. And before knowing what the decision will be. Does it want to exert influence? The same hasn't been seen when the conservative Portuguese government rejected the purchase of Novo Banco by a Spanish bank, CaixaBank; or when the right-wing Italian government imposed conditions on Unicredit's takeover bid for BPM.

Unlike the Portuguese case, the Italian operation is a transaction within its own borders. The same goes for the BBVA-Sabadell deal, over which the Spanish government could decide by San Juan. Why is Brussels reacting, then? Or, in any case, why hasn't there been such European interest in other cases? Call me a dirty thinker.