Bird & Bird has launched a dedicated competition practice in Spain with the hire of a partner from DLA Piper.

The top 30 UK firm has hired Antonio Creus as a partner in its Madrid office to lead the new practice group. Creus has more than 20 years' experience advising on competition matters before the European Commission and had been a partner at DLA since 2004.

Bird & Bird's Madrid arm has 25 lawyers and five partners, with the latest hire allowing the office to offer commercial, transactional, regulatory and contentious advice on IT, intellectual property and telecoms matters.