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MADRID -- Fueled by a decade of economic growth at home and seasoned by years of experience in Latin America, an armada of Spanish companies is pushing aggressively into new markets in Europe and beyond, transforming themselves into some of the world's biggest corporate names.

Practically unheard of a decade ago outside Spain or Latin America -- where many made their first international forays -- companies such as Telef¨®nica SA, Ferrovial SA and Abertis SA are emerging as some of the hungriest corporate predators on Europe's mergers-and-acquisitions scene. The emergence of these formidable new competitors has stoked protectionist tendencies within some of Spain's neighbors and, at times, has helped make bidding wars more expensive. The Spanish expansion, especially in sectors such as telecommunications and banking, also is forcing other so-called national champions across Europe to accelerate their own expansion or risk being left behind.

"Fifteen or 20 years ago, a meeting in Paris or London or New York was nothing but nerves. We didn't know the languages, we didn't know how they did business," says Luis Abril, a top executive at Telef¨®nica who has worked for other big Spanish companies. "Not any more."

Ferrovial, a onetime family-owned construction company, bought the concern that runs Britain's Heathrow Airport this year for £¿5 billion ($19 billion). Banco Santander SA, which two years ago pulled off Europe's second-largest cross-border banking deal with its ¡ê9.5 billion ($18 billion) purchase of Abbey National, is now the world's ninth-largest bank by market capitalization. Telef¨®nica bought U.K. mobile-operator O2 for $30 billion, as well as the former state-owned phone company based in the Czech Republic, and grabbed a 10% stake in China Netcom all within the past year. Smaller companies making a variety of products, including sweaters, rearview mirrors and windmills are pouring into far-flung markets such as China.

In years past, the big predators in Europe were well-established British, French and German companies. Today, corporate Spain's voracious appetite reflects the country's growing economic power. Spain's economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the euro zone, producing the majority of new jobs for the common-currency area. Madrid began deregulating key sectors -- such as telecommunications, banking and energy -- sooner than many neighbors on the Continent, which helped jumpstart economic growth and gave those industries early lessons on domestic consolidation and foreign competition.

Spain's economy expanded 3.6% a year on average during the past decade; this year, growth of 3.4% is forecast. In contrast, Germany's economy -- Europe's largest -- averaged 1.4% annual growth for the past decade. Spain's expansion has enabled its companies -- many of which were either too small or inexperienced a decade ago to consider cross-border expansions -- to amass sizable war chests. Corporate financing became cheaper with the arrival of the euro, making previously unthinkable deals possible.

These factors have helped Spanish companies outpace rivals from more-sluggish and protected European economies. Spanish banks, for example, are among the world's most profitable. Signs that Spanish growth, driven in large part by a 10-year construction boom, will slow in coming years is giving Spanish companies a reason to enter new markets primed for their own takeoffs. In addition, the country's tax law, which gives companies a break on foreign-acquired goodwill, effectively reducing the cost of purchases, has encouraged cross-border deals. The recent U.K. deals, for example, resulted in sizable tax breaks for the Spanish participants.

Corporate Spain's push into Europe is hitting some speed bumps, as governments flout European Union mandates to deregulate certain industries and instead turn more protectionist, with some countries moving to keep certain industries such as banking and energy under domestic control. Italy is trying to block Abertis's takeover of Autostrade SpA, which would create a toll-road giant, despite the deal receiving a green light Friday from the EU. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA ultimately lost its bid for Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA, based in Rome, in part because of resistance from Italy's central banker at the time, Antonio Fazio.

Madrid, too, occasionally has pulled up the drawbridge in the past two-plus years. It spent a year fighting a German bid for power company Endesa SA before recently backing down. Spanish executives say the government's resistance to that bid has made it harder for them to enter some European markets.

Some Spanish companies are reaching beyond Europe to make acquisitions in the U.S. "With the euro strong and European protectionism on the rise, conditions are looking very ripe for a further spate of deals in the U.S.," says Mauro Guill¨¦n, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who wrote a book on Spanish multinational corporations.

Late last year, Santander moved into the U.S. with the purchase of a 25% stake in Philadelphia-area lender Sovereign Bancorp., spending a total of £¿.9 billion. This week, it announced the $650 million purchase of Drive Financial, an auto-finance company in Dallas -- a lucrative segment Santander dominates in Europe. Spanish rival BBVA recently has closed some small deals in California and Texas -- where it is the largest bank -- and this summer signaled its plans to enter the U.S. retail market. Wind-turbine maker Gamesa SA just built a factory in Pennsylvania and says it plans to keep growing. Ferrovial runs toll roads in Chicago and Texas, as well as Canada. Technology company Indra Sistemas SA, which already makes flight simulators for the U.S. Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighter plane, just landed infrastructure-management contracts in St. Louis.

Corporate Spain might not have been ready for this wave of expansion without the experience gleaned from its first international push into Latin America a decade ago. Telef¨®nica, along with banks and utilities, snapped up assets across Latin America during a wave of privatizations, surpassing U.S. investment in the region in 1999 and 2000.

That expansion, dubbed the "reconquista" by economists, gave Spanish companies experience in managing takeovers and foreign operations, and honed their playbook for turning inefficient operations into models of profitability. It also gave Spanish executives the confidence they could compete.

"Spanish companies simply wouldn't be what they are without Latin America," says Luis de Guindos, a vice president at Lehman Brothers investment bank in Madrid. "But now they are coming back to their natural market in Europe and very, very clearly looking at the U.S., because for the first time they really can."

Indeed, Latin America was a learning experience and -- at least for the banks and Telef¨®nica -- a cash cow. But the recent rise of populist governments has had a role in slowing the pace of new Spanish investment there.

"The most important jump we've all made is out of Latin America and into the rest of the world," says Jos¨¦ Manuel Entrecanales, chairman of infrastructure group Acciona SA, which operates in more than 40 countries. "I think we've shaken off the Spanish inferiority complex for good."