Madrid in the middle of May is usually more notable for recreation than work. The 10-day fiesta sees the Spanish capital bedecked in early summer splendour and ranks of the best bullfighters strut their stuff in the Las Ventas bullring. Corporate entertaining peaks as bankers meet their clients in the costlier, shady seats around the ring.

This year, more work has been done than usual, what with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's bid for its Italian rival and the private equity race for Auna, the local telecommunications group. But not so much work that no one made it to the specially installed VIP box, where no fewer than 300 of the "beautiful people" gathered to see the start of the fiesta. The only bug in proceedings was that work continued to dominate the minds and hearts of those there.