José is Managing Partner and Head of the Public Law and Regulated Sectors group of Linklaters Madrid.

He has broad advisory and contentious experience advising large corporations in sectors with a strong regulatory component, an area in which he is regarded as one of the top experts in the Spanish market. He is a State Attorney (Abogado del Estado) and for three years he was the secretary to the board of the Spanish Telecommunications Commission.

José has been ranked by Chambers, for almost 15 years, as “star individual” in public law and as Band 1 in energy & natural resources and TMT (telecommunications). Moreover, Legal 500 recognises him as “leading partner” in public law and he is part of the “hall of fame” in projects and energy.

In addition, he has been recognised as “Best Lawyer in Spain” by Expansión Jurídico Awards in 2024.

Work highlights

Highlights of José’s experience includes, among others:

Providing comprehensive advice on litigation-related aspects of some of Spain's most significant judicial challenges in recent years, including representing, among others: (i) Banco Santander and Caixabank on a successful 1.35bn claim against the Spanish State concerning the Castor underground gas storage; (ii) Iberdrola in successfully challenging the economic mechanism to finance the bono social eléctrico at both the CJEU and the Spanish Supreme Court, and in enforcing the subsequent judgements (approx. €800m); (iii) Túnel de Sóller (a subsidiary of Globavía) on the successful legal challenge against the contracting authority's decision to expropriate a toll road concession in Mallorca for 'public interest reasons' and remove the toll; (iv) Concesiones de Madrid (a subsidiary of Globavía) in judicial challenges concerning the economic regime of the M-45 belt road concession in Madrid; and (v) Telefónica on several judicial cases before the administrative courts involving complex regulatory matters.
Furthermore, José has broad experience advising on the regulatory aspects of outstanding M&A deals. Some examples include advising, among others: (i) Q-Energy on the €1bn sale of a renewable portfolio to Verbund; (ii) BRUC Energy on the acquisitions of a 2GW solar photovoltaic generation portfolio under development from Forestalia; (iii) Macquarie and Wren House on the sale of Viesgo Generación to Repsol; (iv) Matrix on the acquisition of two solar projects, with a capacity of 99.92MW, from Esparity Solar; (v) Tensile Capital Management and Portobello Capital on the acquisition of petrol station operator Plenoil; (vi) BlackRock on the potential JV with Naturgy in relation to the ownership of a 49% in Medgaz; and (vii) Carlyle on the acquisition of a minority stake of between 30% and 40% in Cepsa from Mubadala.
José regularly advises top-tier companies on intricate regulatory matters. Some of his most outstanding clients include Iberdrola, Repsol, Redeia (formerly Red Eléctrica de España), Enagás, Nortegás, Engie, AELEC, CIDE, MRG, and MIBGAS, among others. He has also provided advisory services to funds such as Macquarie, BlackRock, Bruc Energy, Matrix, Eni Plenitude, CHC Energía, Q-Energy, CPPIB, and CIP on a wide range of issues, including regulatory matters.
In addition, José regularly advises on various foreign investment control matters in the context of several M&A transactions, including, among others: (i) on the public takeover offer launched by TDR Capital and I Squared Capital over Applus Services; (ii) on the public takeover offer launched by IFM investors over Naturgy; (iii) on the purchase of a minority share in a telecom network by Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure; (iii) on the acquisition by ORIX Corporation of an 80% stake in Elawan Energy; (iv) on several acquisitions of different renewable projects in Spain by Blackrock; and (v) on the acquisition of a sizeable portfolio of electricity generation facilities in Spain by CTG (a Chinese state-owned energy operator).

Five years with the Spanish FI regime: Key takeaways from our interview with the Deputy Head of Unit for Foreign Investments, Santiago Conde Lara

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