Herbert Smith's Spanish ally Cuatrecasas has hired the head of legal at Spain's leading iron and steel company Aceralia as a partner and a former legal head at the Spanish government's data protection agency as of counsel

The hires come just weeks after it took over niche Spanish labour law firm Pagonabarraga.
Former Aceralia head of legal Francisco Pérez-Crespo Payá has been appointed to work in corporate and litigation. Paya is also an abogado del Estado (a Spanish state lawyer). Payá was previously a government lawyer specialising in tax administration.
Javier Aparicio, another abogado del Estado will head up the firm's specialist data protection consultancy within its new technologies practice.