Mapfre surpassed €1 billion in profit for the first time last year, reaching €1.069 billion, a 19.6% increase compared to the previous year. The insurer attributes this result to a 46.8% rise in profits from non-life lines of business and the life insurance business in Spain, Portugal, and Brazil, which contributed almost €200 million, among other factors. The company will propose a dividend of €0.11 per share from the 2025 results and another of €0.0015, contingent upon an 85% quorum at the shareholders' meeting scheduled for March 13. The group's total premium income grew by 3.6% last year, reaching €29.144 billion, impacted by currency depreciation, particularly the Brazilian real and other Latin American currencies, the Turkish lira, and the US dollar. At constant exchange rates, premiums increased by 7.8%.

VidaCaixa, owned by CaixaBank, closed the 2025 fiscal year with a total of €13.711 billion in premiums and contributions to pension plans marketed in Spain and Portugal, its two markets. This figure represents a 6.4% increase compared to the previous year.

The stock market loses a heavyweight in the insurance sector this Monday. Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO), which operates in the insurance sector under the Occidente brand, ceases trading on the stock market this Monday, ending a stock market history that dates back to 1878, and later to the continuous market since 1997. The move comes after the takeover bid launched by Inocsa. a company that was the main shareholder, controlled by the Serra familyThe company, headquartered in Madrid since 2017, coinciding with the October 1st independence referendum, has now become a fully private group with the Serra family as its main shareholders. It is the first insurance group independent of financial conglomerates in the Spanish market, with annual sales of approximately €6 billion. Its president, Josep Maria Serra Farré, is one of Catalonia's wealthiest individuals. It represents a family that controlled more than 60% of the group through Inocsa and will now own 100%.The group, in addition to Occidente, controls the credit insurance giant Atradius, as well as Mémora, Spain's leading funeral operator. Currently, Hugo Serra Calderón, son of Josep Maria, manages the group as vice president and CEO. He represents one of the three family branches: the Serra Calderóns (children of Josep Maria Serra Farré), the Enrich Serras, and the Halpern Serras, represented by Assumpta and Josefa Serra Farré, respectively, the other daughters of the group's founder, Jesús Serra Santamans. There is another branch, that of Jesús Serra Farré, which separated from the insurance group in 2009 and owns the Baqueira-Beret ski resort and its hotels. The family controls most of the insurance group's capital through the companies Sociedad de Gestión y Participaciones SL, Inocsa, and La Previsión 96. Acquisitions and Mergers

The company, which unified its insurance brands – Catalana Occidente, Plus Ultra, Seguros Bilbao, and Nortehispana – under the Occidente umbrella starting in 2024, has a value of over €5.4 billion. In the first nine months of 2025, it earned €688.7 million, with a turnover of €5.9977 billion. With origins dating back 160 years, the group, which also owns Crédito y Caución, has grown through acquisitions and mergers. In 1999, it acquired MNA (Multinacional Aseguradora, the subsidiary of the now-defunct Caixa Catalunya); in 2001, it launched a takeover bid to acquire Lepanto; in 2004, it acquired Seguros Bilbao; in 2010, it completed the takeover of the company; and in 2012, it acquired the Spanish subsidiary of the French company Groupama and revived its brand: Plus Ultra. The following year it acquired Previsora ​​Bilbaína; in 2019, Antares, which allowed it to make a significant leap into the health insurance sector; and in 2023 it bought Mémora, one of the leading funeral companies in the Spanish market.

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Banco Sabadell and Zurich have strengthened their alliance by launching new home and life insurance products. Both entities have a joint venture (joint ventureEstablished 17 years ago, the insurer was one of those that supported the Vallès-based bank in BBVA's takeover bid. After BlackRock, plus one financial investor, the insurance group is the bank's largest shareholder, with 4.947%. The current agreement represents a further step in the "joint strategy" and strengthens their alliance "with the launch of new products on the market and the new Zenit product range, to continue expanding its position as a leader in insurance and boost the insurer's strategy of maintaining strong growth through this life and home insurance." The home and life insurance offering launched on the market incorporates new coverages and a new contracting model: a fixed premium for three years, with no increases based on age, claims history, or inflation, and with the option of monthly payments at no extra charge. Strategic Plan

This move by the Catalan bank aligns with its 2025-2027 strategic plan, which positions the insurance business as one of its growth drivers. The roadmap, presented last July, projected insurance growth exceeding 15%, thanks precisely to the alliance with Zurich.

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The Serra family has secured control of over 90% of the Occidente insurance group (formerly Catalana Occidente). The takeover bid launched by Inocsa, the company controlled by this family, for Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO), of which they already held 62.03%, has been completed with the acceptance of 35.79% of the share capital. This gives them control of 97.82% of the capital and allows them to achieve their goal of taking the company private. Excluding the 74.44 million immobilized shares, representing 62.03% of the share capital, Inocsa's takeover bid was accepted by 42,950,477 shares, representing 94.27% of the shares targeted by the offer. "Consequently, the public offer has been successful, since the number of shares included in the acceptance declarations exceeded the minimum threshold set by the offeror for its effectiveness," the company stated. The minimum acceptance threshold was 15,671,159 shares. The cash portion was accepted for 38,010,278 shares, and the exchange portion for 4,940,199 shares. On October 21, Inocsa decided to increase the consideration offered for the takeover bid of GCO to €49.75 per share, an improvement of €0.75 over the initial price. The other option was an exchange of one newly issued Class B share of Inocsa for every 43.9446 GCO shares, with a reference price for one new Class B share of Inocsa of €2,186.24.

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The social welfare mutual funds supervised by the Catalan government surpassed 1.1 million insured last year, bringing them back to the level of 2017, their peak this decade. The 23 entities supervised by the Catalan government's Directorate General for Financial Policy reached 1,101,761 insured members, 12.5% of the population, representing a growth of more than 20%. The difference compared to eight years ago is that there were 37 mutual funds under the supervision of the Catalan government, and now there are 23, as in the previous year, providing coverage mainly for healthcare, death, and life insurance benefits, according to data from the Directorate General for Financial Policy, Insurance, and the Treasury of the Catalan government. They also regained membership, with 95,208, a 2.24% increase over the previous year.

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The Serra family has decided to increase the price of the takeover bid launched against Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO) to achieve full control of the company, of which they already hold a majority. This decision was made by the board of directors of Inocsa, which directly and indirectly holds 61.951% of the capital in the GCO holding company, according to a communication to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The takeover bid notification was accepted for processing by the stock market supervisor last May and is pending approval.

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– What is an insurance broker and what is their importance?

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The insurance sector continues to grow and offers more and more options to suit the needs and budgets of all users. Specialists emphasize the need to be well-informed to pay as little as possible without leaving any important items uncovered. Choosing the best insurance involves adapting personal needs to the policies offered by insurance companies.

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The insurance sector is undergoing a transformation. In a context marked by the climate crisis, cybersecurity, and new technologies, companies have ceased to be mere policy sellers and have become global risk managers. Experts agree that traditional approaches—based on statistical prediction and claims stability—are no longer sufficient to address a changing reality, with increasingly frequent extreme events and constantly evolving digital threats.

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Sanitas has been caring for people's health and well-being for seven decades. This is evident daily in its hospitals, medical and dental centers, senior residences, and health insurance plans. However, far from limiting its focus to taking care of its buildings and users behind closed doors, the insurance company extends its mission beyond its doors and works to make society a healthier, fairer, and more inclusive place, where people can enjoy a more active and healthier lifestyle, which also impacts the lives of its citizens.

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The traditional private insurance distribution sector in Catalonia closed the 2024 financial year with a turnover of €841.8 million in intermediated premiums, 3.15% more than the previous year. Of the total, €749 million came from non-life insurance and €92.7 million from life insurance, with growth above the total recorded in the previous year of 2.60% and 7.82%, respectively. As is the case every year, around a third of the total business corresponds to automobile insurance. One notable aspect is the growth in new policy production, with an increase of over 9%.

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These RACC commercials on Catalunya Ràdio have me captivated. They're people making bumpy trips. One went to Vietnam and rented a motorcycle, even though he couldn't drive, so he broke his leg (lucky RACC). Another was taking her son to Erasmus, but the car broke down (lucky RACC). There's also one who's going to Mexico, I'd say, and has a stomach ache. It wasn't diarrhea. It was appendicitis ("la pendis," as we used to say when we were kids), and they brought him home on a medically-equipped plane (lucky RACC).

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This Monday's historic blackout suddenly disrupted the routines of citizens and businesses, also causing millions in losses. For individuals, home insurance offers some useful coverage to address damage caused by this type of malfunction. One of the most important is protection against electrical damage caused by a power outage, a coverage that includes food and medicine stored in refrigerators. Unlike the DANA (National Insurance Plan), the Insurance Compensation Consortium—which replaces insurance companies—does not come into play in this case, as it would only be activated if the blackout was the result of an atmospheric phenomenon, a matter that has not yet been confirmed. An essential element is knowing the cause of the blackout, which helps determine who to claim against, explain Endesa sources.

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In 2023, Spanish insurance companies covered a health insurance claim costing €74,000 in Israel, €56,000 in Canada, and €48,000 in the United States, to name three. These are data from the insurance association Unespa for 2023, published last year. Because being a tourist has its risks, and as the saying goes: better safe than sorry. Unespa's data shows that taking out travel insurance isn't a bad idea, especially for some destinations.

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More familiar. The Serras, who are already the largest shareholders, aim to further control the Occidente insurance group (formerly Catalana Occidente). This Thursday, Inoc, the company in which they hold a stake and which holds a 62.03% stake directly and indirectly in the holding company GCO (Catalana Occidente Group), is proposing a voluntary takeover bid (OPB) for all shares. Currently, 33.57% of the capital is floating on the market, and half is held by institutional investors.

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Gonzalo Gortázar, CEO of CaixaBank, has been appointed non-executive chairman of VidaCaixa, the insurance company owned by the bank. The decision was made by the financial institution's executive committee. Gortázar, who previously held this position from 2014 to 2021, remains CaixaBank's chief executive and replaces Jordi Gual at VidaCaixa due to the expiration of his term.

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The largest home insurer in the United States announced in 2023 that it would stop issuing new fire risk policies in California. Just over a year later, a wave of fires in that Pacific state destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, including large mansions owned by Hollywood stars. And despite climate change denialism, the truth is that this trend by some companies in the sector is repeated in other places with natural risks, such as hurricanes, strong storms and floods. "In a context of climate change and a more than foreseeable increase in risk, these difficulties pose the challenge of how the insurance sector can continue to protect society in a sustainable way," said Javier Caamaño, from the communications department of the insurer Mapfre, in a company communication a few months ago.

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