Salvador García-Ruiz's move to Telefónica is the most notable corporate appointment of the week.

BarcelonaHe Catalan Salvador García-Ruiz has been in the news this week because he made the jump from Indra to Telefónica, another signing by the president of Telefónica (and formerly Indra), Marc Murtra, who since taking office at the beginning of the year has hired several people from the defense company. This week also saw notable appointments at the funeral home Mémora, the airline EasyJet, and the fund managers CaixaBank Asset Management and Invivo.

Murtra brings García-Ruiz to Telefónica

Salvador García-Ruiz will be the new communications director for the telecommunications giant Telefónica. The executive from Santa Perpetua de Mogoda (Vallès Occidental), who was CEO of ARA between 2013 and 2019, will take over the position previously held by Eduardo Navarro.

García-Ruiz was until now the director in Catalonia of the Spanish defense and technology multinational Indra, which he joined with the also Catalan Marc Murtra. Following Murtra's departure from the presidency of Indra due to occupy Telefónica's, approved earlier this year, García-Ruiz is following in his footsteps, now as the telephone company's top manager of corporate communications. Before his time at Indra, the Vallesan executive led the Abacus cooperative and was deputy general manager of Caja de Ingenieros.

Due to his position, García-Ruiz will also be a member of Telefónica's executive committee. Trained at Pompeu Fabra University and New York University, he previously worked at Caixa Manresa and the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, and is currently an investor instart-up Roka Furadada and promoter of the think tank Catalonia Without Limits.

Eduardo Navarro will continue as president of Telefónica Brazil, a position he already holds, and as corporate affairs advisor to the presidency.

The CaixaBank management company has a new leadership position.

CaixaBank Asset Management, the investment fund and discretionary portfolio manager of the CaixaBank Group, has appointed Juan Gandarias as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors. Gandarias was previously Vice Chairman of the management firm and replaces Pablo Forero as Chairman, who recently stepped down from the position after joining the CaixaBank Board of Directors. Gandarias is also currently Chairman of CaixaBank Wealth Management Luxembourg.

Belén Martín, director of CaixaBank Private Banking and director of CaixaBank AM, will serve as vice president of the asset management company. The board of directors of CaixaBank AM is now also completed by Eugenio Solla, Laura Comas, Juan Carlos Genestal, Cristina Rembado, Isabel Castelo Branco, and Rodrigo Díaz.

Grup Mémora appoints Xavier Fontanet as its new CEO.

The Mémora Group has announced the appointment of Xavier Fontanet as its new CEO, effective January 1, 2026, following the resignation for personal reasons of Augusto Huesca, who has been its CEO since July 2023.

Xavier Fontanet holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​an MBA from the EAE and a PDD from the IESE in 2006. He joined GCO – the group that owns Mémora – in 1989 and has held various positions throughout his professional career; since January 2022, he has been GCO's General Manager of Operations and a member of its Management Committee.

Javier Gándara, EasyJet's new Global Director of Public Policy

Javier Gándara has been appointed Global Director of Public Policy for easyJet. The executive has already taken up the new role, which he will combine with his current responsibility as General Manager of easyJet for Southern Europe, one of the airline's strategic regions, with 80 aircraft and a team of more than 3,000 employees.

Gándara joined EasyJet in 2007, holding various positions until 2020, when he was appointed General Manager for Southern Europe. In June 2017, he became President of the Association of Airlines (ALA), the leading association in the airline sector in Spain. He was recently re-elected as President of the ALA for the next two years. He is also Honorary President of ITAérea Business School, where he teaches commercial aviation.

He holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the UPM (University of Madrid), a degree in Business Administration and Management from the UNED (National University of Madrid), and an Executive MBA from IE Business School and a postgraduate degree in Air Transport Management from the University of London.

Josep Martorell joins the Invivo fund

Josep Martorell has signed Invivo Partners to the fund management company. The Catalan physicist directed the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) until last June.

Specifically, Martorell will be one of the directors in charge of InvivoAI, a 100 million euro fund dedicated to financially supporting startups that apply artificial intelligence in fields such as biotechnology, photonics or nanotechnology.