Can Spanish Companies Rely on Latin America?

Grupo Ezentis is a Spanish engineering company that builds and runs phone and power-cable networks in Spain and Latin America. “About two-thirds of the company’s revenue comes from Latin America, and it keeps on growing,” says Chairman Manuel García-Durán. Without Latin America, Ezentis would be trapped inside the moribund Spanish market, where it’s losing money.

Ezentis is one of hundreds of Spanish companies with heavy exposure to the Latin American economy. Since 1992, Spanish corporations have spent $117 billion on Latin American deals, according to Bloomberg data. The acquisitions have been pretty constant, especially over the last 10 years, prompting journalists to dub the phenomenon the Reconquista, in reference to the conquistadors of the 16th century.