REUTERS/Toby Melville Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone’s (VOD.L) boss Margherita Della Valle is cleaning up the sprawling 21 billion pound telecom group, but it’s a tough job. A potentially messy exit in Spain illustrates the point. Della Valle lacks an obvious partner in the country: local giant Telefónica (TEF.MC) is too big, while rivals Orange (ORAN.PA) and MásMóvil are merging with one another. As a result, Vodafone may have found itself a potentially problematic counterparty for the Spanish business, which Della Valle has put under strategic review. Investors might be reassured that Della Valle is making things happen, but a clean break in Spain looks increasingly unlikely.

---

Persons: Toby Melville, Margherita Della Valle, Della Valle, Eamonn O’Hare, Expansión, Zegona, Pamela Barbaglia, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: Vodafone, REUTERS, Reuters, Orange, Zegona Communications, Virgin Media, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, ING, Reuters Graphics Reuters, X, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Spain