This summer, the Círculo de Economía will have Teresa Garcia-Milà as its first president in 67 years.
The economics professor has been on every board since 1995, with the exception of the 2013-2016 term.
BarcelonaEconomics professor Teresa Garcia-Milà will take over from Jaume Guardiola as president of the Círculo de Economía at the end of June or beginning of July, following the entity's general assembly. She will be the first woman to hold this position in the sixty-seven-year history of this organization, which brings together more than 1,500 businesspeople, executives, and representatives from the economic and social world.
Garcia-Milà, who has served on almost all of the boards of directors since 1995, with the exception of the one from 2013 to 2016, is currently vice president of the Círculo and is working on the configuration of the board of directors she will propose for the next three years. The current president, Jaume Guardiola, who is supporting this succession, endorsed by the so-called senate Formed by previous presidents, he leaves office in his third year, once the annual meeting, held between May 5 and 7 in Barcelona, as provided for in the statutes, has concluded.
The entity's objective has been to recover the co-optation formula, after the last elections saw two opposing candidates: Guardiola, who won; and businesswoman Rosa Cañadas. The Círculo de Economía prioritizes consensus, as was the case in previous board renewals, and hopes that there will be no other attempt to put forward an alternative candidate, according to knowledgeable sources.
Magda Ferrer-Dalmau, the pioneer
In its early days, the Círculo did not allow female members. The first was economist Magda Ferrer-Dalmau. In fact, in 1961, she was still refused membership despite her economics degree, and she didn't gain membership until 10 years later, in 1971, after the Círculo amended its bylaws. Later, from 1987 to 1989, she was able to serve on the board of directors during the term of president of lawyer Vicenç Oller. And with Joan Molins as president, from 1992 to 1995, she served as treasurer.
Following this path, Anna Birulés joined the board from 1989 to 1992, becoming the only woman on the board with Carles Tusquets as president. During Josep Piqué's first term, from 1995 to 1996, Aurora Catà was joined by Adriana Casademont and Teresa Garcia-Milà, who has served on every board except the one from 2013 to 2016, when Anton Costas served as president. Garcia-Milà also served as vice president from 2016 to 2019, with Juan José Brugera as president, a term in which Marta Angerri made her debut as general director; and from 2022 to 2025, with Jaume Guardiola at the helm. The board, which is ending its term, currently has eight women out of a total of 19 members, with Garcia-Milà and Núria Cabutí holding the vice president positions. And there was only one previous female vice president, during Juan José Brugera's 2016-2019 term, with Garcia-Milà.
Garcia-Milà holds a degree in Economics from the University of Barcelona and a PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota. She is part of the group of economists known as Minnesota, like the current president of Banc Sabadell, Josep Oliu. She is a professor in the Pompeu Fabra Department of Economics and Business, director of the Barcelona School of Economics, and an associate researcher at the Center for Research in International Economics (CREI).
She has been president of the Spanish Economics Association (2014), director of the Department of Economics and Business at UPF, vice-rector for Scientific Policy, and dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business. Previously, she was a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is a director of Repsol and served on the board of Enagas (2006–14), Vueling (2007–09), and Banc Sabadell (2007–2020).