Spanish Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said the construction sector's role as an investor in energy companies is not a bad thing but that their entry into the financial sector would not be welcome.
In an interview with newspaper La Vanguardia, the minister was referring to the recent purchases of stakes in key Spanish energy companies Repsol, Endesa and Iberdrola by the country's biggest construction companies - Sacyr, ACS and Acciona.
"In every free market economy there is a moment when there is an accumulation of capital, which becomes the motor for investment. In the Spanish case, this process has been concentrated among building companies, and that does not seem bad to me," Solbes was quoted as saying.
"(But) one thing is the energy sector and another entirely is the financial sector," he said. Last year, Sacyr sought unsuccessfully to become a core shareholder in bank BBVA.
Miguel Sebastian, chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, was last week quoted as saying the government was pleased by recent purchases of stakes in key energy firms by construction companies but had not done anything to encourage their moves.