When considering who the most influential figures currently are across the globe, names like President Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Russell Brand may spring to mind – or they may not!
But, what about if we narrow this down and only concentrate on the most powerful figures in Spain? This is likely to cause us to think for much longer, and, even then, the majority of us non-Spaniards would probably only come up with names associated to sport and films, like Rafael Nadal, Fernando Alonso and Penelope Cruz.
The more savvy and au fait with who’s who in this country will probably add the likes of King Felipe and his wife Queen Letizia, Francisco Rajoy, Artur Más and President of Mercadona, Juan Roig – the majority of the big names being men.
And what about the females of this country? How influential are they on this male-dominated stage?
Well, for the last four years, a list has been compiled by the platform Mujeres y CIA of the top 100 most influential women in Spain, where the winners have been selected from more than 500 candidates. They all come from the fields of culture, politics, business, science and technology, sport, investigation and the media.
These are women who work tirelessly on a day-to-day basis and have excelled in their line of work. Many are an inspiration to not only other women but to the rest of the population as well.
Here are details of some of those that feature in the top 100 most influential women that have become most well-known through their work and merits.
Mireia Belmonte
Mireia Belmonte is certainly an inspirational figure to all those interested in sport. She is possibly one of Spain’s most successful swimmers ever, and has been for almost a decade. She has a whole host of medals under her belt, including two silver medals in the London Olympics Games, one for the 800m freestyle and the other for the 200m butterfly, making her the first Spanish swimmer to win two Olympic silver medals; four gold medals from the 2011 National Championships; three golds at the 2010 World Championships in Dubai and a gold medal at the European Championships in 2008. She has broken numerous national, European and world records since then. Despite all her achievements so far, Belmonte has set her sights on next year’s Olympics Games being held in Rio de Janeiro and is looking to fulfil her dream of winning that elusive Olympic gold medal.
Blanca Portillo
Blanca Portillo may be a name that we are not overly familiar with, yet she is one of Spain’s most prominent actresses and directors, enjoying a career spanning almost four decades. Born in Madrid in 1963, she began to work in television in the 80s, but it wasn’t until 1999 that she became a household name thanks to the hugely successful series 7 Vidas. Since then she has worked tirelessly with many of the best actors and directors in the country, appearing in films such as Goya’s Ghosts directed by Milos Foreman; Volver by Almodóvar; and Broken Embraces also by Almodóvar. In 2006, she was nominated for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and in 2012 she was awarded the National Prize for Theatre and the Max Prize for the best director.
Esther Alcocer Koplowitz
Esther Koplowitz was situated at number 804 of the World’s Billionaire list in 2012. She is currently the vice-president of leading Spanish construction company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), which she inherited from her late father. She was the first woman in Spain to head a major business of this kind, and at 39 years old, she was also the youngest female director of a company that traded on the Spanish stock market (Ibex). She ran the company jointly with her sister from 1989 until 1997, which is when she took over the reins, buying her sister out of the company for 800 million dollars. Carlos Slim bought a 25% share in the company last year and Bill Gates also purchased 6% recently. Esther has been appointed board positions within several national and international companies, yet spends much of her time now dedicated to humanitarian work for which she has also won awards and recognition.
Elena Arzak
If you’re a Masterchef fan like me, the name Elena Arzak should definitely ring a bell. Head chef of the three Michelin star restaurant Arzak in San Sebastián, Elena has worked hard since a young age to achieve her dreams and enjoy the position she holds today. In 2012, she was voted the best female chef in the world, and her restaurant Arzak, where she works with her father, currently sits at number 17 in the list of the world’s best 50 restaurants. She began working in the family restaurant at the age of 11, learning the craft during the summer holidays. Since then she went on to train in Switzerland and subsequently worked alongside some of the best chefs in the world including Albert and Michael Roux Jr., Alain Ducasse and Pierre Gagnaire. When she returned to Spain, she carried out a stint at the famous El Bulli restaurant before returning to the family business.
Ada Colau
Ada Colau has become a prominent figure in Spanish politics over the last couple of years in particular. Today, she is the mayor of Barcelona, the first female to hold that position, a post that she took on in June this year. Born in Barcelona, Colau is most well-known for being a social activist and standing up for the rights of those less fortunate in society. She is one of the founding members of the PAH platform, an organization set up to help those affected by the property crisis who faced eviction after struggling to keep up with mortgage payments. People really began to notice her work when she branded a representative of the Spanish Banking Association “a criminal”, and there is likely to be a great number of people within the banking and political scenes that fear her. She has worked tirelessly in the field of human rights and has received many awards and much recognition for her efforts. Thanks to a petition started by PAH, Spain has made positive changes to its legislation on mortgages and the banking system.
Ana Patricia Botín
The surname should be familiar as one of the top names within the banking and finance world. In September 2014, Ana Botín took over her late father’s role as executive chairman of the Banco Santander Group, Santander Bank being one of the most important companies within the country. Ten years ago, Botín was ranked 99 in the list for the top 100 most powerful women in the world according to Forbes, but in 2009 her position had jumped to 45. Before assuming her current role, Botín headed up Santander UK and in February 2013 was listed as the third most influential woman in the UK by Women’s Hour. She has been credited for her past work experience and training, her determination and her personal style.
Purificación García
Purificación García is one of the leading names in Spanish fashion design and is renowned internationally for her work. From a modest background, the designer was born in the Galician village of Castrelo do Valle in Ourense, but spent much of her childhood in Montevideo, Uruguay. She started work at the age of 15 in order to help her family economically in a textile company and after just one year succeeded into the design team. It wasn’t long before she actually became a designer herself. After stints of living in New York and Canada, she returned to Spain and began to create her own designs of hats, bags and T-shirts, which she sold herself on the beaches of Mallorca, which is where she had settled. In 1980, she made the move to Barcelona, and a year later completed her first collection. Within a decade, she was working on the international fashion scene, showing her work in Milan and Tokio. The rest is history.
Letizia Ortiz
Hopefully many of you will recognize this woman’s name as that of the current Queen of Spain. If you have lived in Spain for a long time, you may remember Ortiz appearing daily on our television screens reading the news in her role as a leading journalist. After announcing her engagement to Prince Felipe, she gave up her career, which included writing for the Nueva España and ABC periodicals, and began to carry out roles more appropriate to her new position. Today, she is an honorary member of numerous associations and foundations and a huge advocate of scientific investigation. She has been most widely recognized for her work related to the Príncipe de Asturias Prizes, which are annually handed out to recognize merits and achievements in the world of science, humanities and public affairs. This is a role that she cherishes dearly as Letizia was born in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias.
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría
Santamaría is perhaps the most influential woman in the political sphere today, as since December 2011 she has held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and spokesperson of the Spanish Government. Before these prominent roles, she served as the executive secretary of Territorial Policy within the PP and held a seat within the Madrid parliament.
Marisa Navas
Marisa Navas was a candidate for the top 100 most influential women in Spain in 2012, 2013 and 2015, and made the grade in 2014. She is the Deputy General of Communication at Telefónica, another of Spain’s most important companies. A graduate of Information Sciences, she has assumed the role of editor for business journals Cinco Días and La Gaceta de los Negocios. She was also the first woman in Spain to run a national newspaper in this country.
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