The man who must refloat Pronovias' accounts

BarcelonaThe British fund Cap Capital will be the owner of the productive unit of the Barcelona-based bridal wear company Pronovias, which had entered into receivership, an operation resolved by Commercial Court number 9 of Barcelona, as reported by the Catalan company in a statement. This new phase aims at the American market, where Pronovias wants to increase its presence, as well as strengthen its positioning in Europe and introduce new technologies and artificial intelligence. Cap Capital's offer retains 552 Pronovias employees, of which 446 are in Spain. For now, the new ownership has already chosen the person who is to bring order to the company to relaunch it.

Luis de Müller Heiberg

Financial Director of Pronovias

The bridal fashion firm Pronovias has announced the appointment of Luis Müller Heiberg as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who will lead the brand's global financial strategy following Cap Capital's entry as a reference shareholder. The company is at a "key moment", focused on "consolidating its operational transformation and advancing in strategic markets such as the United States", Pronovias indicated in a statement.

Within this strategy, the company is strengthening its management team with profiles focused on "execution, financial discipline, and the development of a solid, sustainable international roadmap aligned with the brand's global potential", the company stated. Müller will lead Pronovias' financial strategy and will be responsible for areas such as financial planning, treasury, management control, financing, profitability analysis, and financial support for transformation and growth initiatives.

In his more than 25 years of experience in financial management, Müller has served, among other positions, as CFO of The FoodCo Supermercats Overseas, a food distribution group with a presence in Spain and Portugal, where he participated in doubling the company's commercial network, in addition to leading financing operations for 12 million euros.

Maria Salamero

Dean of the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia

Maria Salamero Sansalvadó and Xavier Rovira Fernández have been appointed, respectively, dean of the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia and president of the Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia, after heading the RE-E-evolucionem candidacy, the only list presented in this electoral process. Last Tuesday they took office. With this proclamation, Maria Salamero, who in the last term had served as president of the Association, becomes the first woman to assume the position of dean of the College in the entire history of the institution. For his part, Xavier Rovira, until now a member of the Association's Board, takes over from Salamero as president of this latter entity.

Maria Salamero Sansalvadó is an industrial engineer from the Higher School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona (ETSEIB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and holds an MBA from Eada. She has developed a solid professional career in the water and environment sector within the Agbar Group, where she has held management positions in operations, technology, research, sustainability, and communication. Currently, she is the Head of Sustainability at Celsa Group and since 2022 she has presided over the Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia.

Enrico Letta

Naturgy Counselor

Naturgy has incorporated former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta as an independent director. This was done at the proposal of the appointments and remuneration committee, highlighting that the candidate combines "maximum institutional experience, a solid academic career, and profound knowledge of the EU". In a statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the energy company also reported the incorporation of German economist Anke Groth, replacing Nicolás Villén, at the proposal of the Australian investment fund IFM, Naturgy's second-largest shareholder. Furthermore, Javier de Jaime, Marta Martínez, and José Antonio Torre de Silva have resigned as shareholder directors after Rioja SARL sold all its stake in the company.

Letta holds a degree in political science and a doctorate in European law from the University of Pisa, and is a specialist in European integration, economic policy, and international governance. He has been Prime Minister of Italy, Minister of Industry, and a Member of the European Parliament. Currently, he is President of the Jacques Delors Institute and Dean of the IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs in Madrid. Previously, he was Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs.

Osmar Polo

President of 22@Network

Osmar Polo, CEO of T-Systems Iberia, has been appointed the new president of 22@Network Barcelona. The executive thus takes over from the until now president, Susana Prado, director of Inetum Catalonia, in accordance with the alternation established at the beginning of the board's term two years ago. Nevertheless, the distribution of the position will not become effective until the board of directors meeting at the end of the month. The new president, Osmar Polo, has been linked to the association for more than six years, assuming responsibilities and being part of the board of directors for two terms. In the current term, he served as strategic vice president, a position that Susana Prado will now occupy. "As foundational members of 22@Network Barcelona, I take on the presidency with great responsibility and enthusiasm, and with the will to give continuity to the work driven by the Board of Directors in recent years. We are living at a key moment for Europe, in which innovation, artificial intelligence, the cloud, cybersecurity, and technological sovereignty will mark the competitiveness of companies and territories," commented Osmar Polo. Marta Blázquez

President of Faconauto

The general assembly of Faconauto, the employers' association of car dealers in Spain, has re-elected Marta Blázquez as president of the Federation for the 2026-2029 period, at the head of the same team with which she has worked during the previous term, with electrification and the renewal of the automotive fleet as the main axes of her new mandate.

Blázquez faces this new stage with the conviction that Spain has the potential to position the passenger car market at 1,300,000 units per year. "Talking about 1.3 million registrations is not talking about selling more cars: it is talking about renewing one of the oldest and most unsafe fleets in Europe and contributing to decarbonization by relying on electrification and other technologies. This is the roadmap," stated Blázquez.

The mandate incorporates other lines of action such as anticipating the impact of artificial intelligence and autonomous and connected vehicles, active presence in European, national, and regional negotiation tables, and strengthening alliances with strategic partners. "We want to continue being the great showcase for the sector and give a voice to distribution in all forums where issues affecting these SMEs and their customers are decided," added Blázquez.

Ramon Ramírez Llorente

Director of Mobility Infrastructure

The Government has appointed Ramon Ramírez Llorente as the new Director General of Mobility Infrastructure. Until now, he was director of Economic, Financial, and General Services at Infrastructure Ferroviàries de Catalunya (Ifercat), where he participated in projects related to the transfer of Rodalies and the structuring of public-private partnerships. Ramírez is a Civil, Canals, and Ports Engineer from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and has over 25 years of experience in the infrastructure and mobility sector, as highlighted by the Catalan executive. He also participated in projects such as Barcelona's L9 metro, the FGC extensions to Sabadell, the Transversal Axis, or the Diagonal Axis.

In the private sector, he was Operations Director at Thermowaste, Director of the Heritage Area and Espai Barça at FC Barcelona, and held various management positions at the consultancy Idom in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Ricardo Cuesta

Director of SEPE

The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday the appointment of Ricardo Cuesta as Director General of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), replacing Gerardo Gutiérrez, who had been in office for eight years. Cuesta previously held the position of Deputy Director General of Statistics and Information at SEPE, where he performed functions of coordination of the Information System of Public Employment Services (Sispe), evaluation and statistics of the National Employment System, promotion of the Observatory of Occupations and coordination with the public employment services of the autonomous communities.

A civil servant, he began his career in 1994 in the field of public employment policies, labor relations, public management, local development, and legal advice in these matters. Since March 2020, he held the position of provincial director of SEPE in Madrid and previously worked as a technician at the Torrejón de Ardoz town hall (1998-2019), where he has spent most of his career, and at the Madrid City Council (1994-1997). For a decade, he taught at the Carlos III University of Madrid in the area of labor law and social security and has participated as a trainer for public employees in employment and training policies for over 20 years.

Ángel Cabrera

President of Aspen Institute

The board of directors of the Aspen Institute in the United States has unanimously appointed Spaniard Ángel Cabrera as its new president and chief executive officer. At 59 years old, Cabrera becomes the first person born outside the United States to lead this prestigious forum for dialogue on public policy and leadership in its nearly 77-year history. The Madrid native will formally assume his duties on November 1, 2026.

Cabrera, born in Madrid and a Telecommunications Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, has extensive and recognized international experience in the academic field. He currently serves as the dean of the Georgia Institute of Technology since 2019. Under his management at Georgia, the institution's enrollments grew by 55% to exceed 56,000 students. Annual research funding at this center surpassed $1.4 billion. Previously, he held the directorship of the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona and George Mason University in Virginia.

In Spain, his career in the management of educational institutions began as dean of IE Business School in Madrid, a position he held until 2004. In addition to his career path, Cabrera holds the distinction of being the first Spaniard to chair an American university and was recognized at the time as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.