An economic mantra says that mergers between equals do not exist: there are buyers and buyers. This reality, which Banc Sabadell now faces with the threat of a takeover bid by BBVA, was made clear this Thursday at the major Catalan bank. CaixaBank has announced the renewal of its board, in which five directors are leaving. The latter are the former president José Ignacio Goirigolzarri and the independents Joaquín Ayuso, Francisco Javier Campo and Eva Castillo, who joined after its merger with Bankia. José Serna, a director representing La Caixa, is also leaving.

"Person ties". This is how José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, president in pectore of CaixaBank, refers to ties that are not Bankia green. He longed to wear them, and is living strange days. Thursday, on his last day at Bankia, he wore two: the green one, to start the day at the entity he has presided over for nine years, and "the person one", to go to sign the last documents of the macro-merger by which he has become president of the largest bank in Spain. The confession took place on Friday on the 24th floor of Torre Kio, 611 kilometers from the operational headquarters of CaixaBank in Barcelona, in the first interview a president of the Catalan bank has offered to the ARA. This 67-year-old native of Bilbao is surprisingly charming when up close, and does not hide from the emotions he has recently lived: "I'll keep Thursday's tie, from the last day in Bankia".