Spanish lender BBVA is seeking to divest 92 vacant commercial properties across Spain in an auction process to be completed later this month. The bank hopes to fetch a minimum of EUR 63 mln from the sale of the portfolio, which comprises office and retail properties in Andalucía, Aragón, Baleares, Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid, País Vasco and Comunidad Valenciana. A total of 40 assets are located in Madrid and Barcelona.

'The sale is part of a plan to rationalise the real estate portfolio,' BBVA said in a statement. Most assets are former branches of the Spanish bank, which are no longer of strategic use to the group. Interested parties have until March 25 to make an offer for one of the properties.

Also in Spain, construction and infrastructure group group FCC has closed a EUR 250 mln long-term financing agreement with a consortium of banks using its flagship Torre Picasso property as guarantee for the loan. Located in the Spanish capital, the tower generates rental income of EUR 26 mln per annum. The new financing facility matures in 2024.