Ángela de Miguel defeats Gerardo Cuerva in the Cepyme employers' association elections.

BarcelonaÁngela de Miguel defeated Gerardo Cuerva, who was running for re-election, in the elections held by Cepyme, the Spanish employers' association for small and medium-sized enterprises and part of CEOE, the main business organization in Spain.

De Miguel, who is the president of CEOE-Cepyme Valladolid, had the support of CEOE President Antonio Garamendi and will hold the position for the next four years, after obtaining 52.7% of the votes in the general assembly.

Of the 466 votes counted, 246 were in favor of Garamendi's candidate and 216 in favor of Cuerva. There was only one blank vote and three spoiled votes. "We are beginning a new era. Today is a day to celebrate internal democracy. A democracy that reinforces the legitimacy and representativeness of this great organization that is Cepyme," said De Miguel after learning the results. He also pledged to be the "voice" of SMEs.

Cepyme is made up of 505 members representing 147 organizations. Of the members, 230 belong to the 56 regional organizations and the remaining 275 to the 91 sectoral organizations. Among the 27 members who make up De Miguel's official candidacy is the president of the Valencian employers' association Cecot, Xavier Panés, on behalf of Foment del Treball. Panés will currently hold one of the vice-presidencies of Cepyme.

De Miguel was the alternative candidate the CEOE president was seeking to compete with Cuerva, who aspired to remain in office, against Garamendi's wishes. The two had distanced themselves, according to business sources, because Cuerva had been overly critical of the government. The candidate running for reelection admitted to "multiple pressures" from Garamendi during the electoral process to prevent him from running for reelection.