 Following market simulations it was agreed that though a key player in Spain, the company was not in position to engage in full scale competition with larger German, Dutch or French conglomerates in the EEC, especially that earlier investment in Progress, a Sicily-focused company intended as starter for the Italian expansion, turned out to be a failure.At some stage MAPFRE considered entering Japan, but the Far-East plans were finally scaled down to businesses in Hong Kong and Macau.In 1985 Larramendi re-formatted his role from chief executive to presidente de la comisión de control institucional, but it was himself who remained behind the steering wheel.