It always helps to have something in the piggy bank for when you really need it. And while Spain’s struggling cajas – or savings banks – may not be a paragon of financial prudence, they have at least tucked away about €24bn of industrial holdings that could be used for a rainy day – such as now.

The expected sale of some of these stakes comes as the cajas need to raise funds to meet new capital requirements. The sale could lead to the greatest shake-up in corporate Spain since the wave of privatisations in the 1990s. It could see the biggest knockdown "rebajas" (or sales) in years.