Cristóbal Montoro, the longest-serving Minister of the Treasury in history (he held the position under José María Aznar as president from 2000 to 2004 and under Mariano Rajoy from 2011 to 2018), is charged along with 27 other people with alleged bribery, fraud against the public administration, and his alleged relationship with senior officials and the firm he founded, Equipo Económico.

Shares in Banc Sabadell and BBVA opened this Friday with gains of around 2% after the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC, the state competition regulator) conditionally authorized the Basque bank's takeover bid (OPA) for the Catalan entity on Wednesday. However, this stock market enthusiasm didn't last long for the Catalan bank.