National Corporate Excellence Awards

Kevin de Ribes, co-founder and Marketing Director of Elite Excellence-Spanish Luxury Federation has been the master of ceremonies with the participation of Sandra Andujar, President of Elite Excellence - Spanish Luxury Federation y Ana Alonso, CEO of Spain is Excellence, who introduced the event. In the words of Andujar "our mission is not only to defend brands but also the entire luxury ecosystem. That led us to create Spain is Excellence, the first tourism and culture consortium in Spain. Companies are the great source of wealth in our country because they represent Spain and are a source of foreign capital investment in our country, which is why they deserve to be recognised in this first edition of these awards".  

On the other hand, Ana Alonso commented that "these awards seek to recognise those companies that, due to their good work, represent Spain in an excellent way beyond our borders".  

Andrea Levy, Delegate of the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport of Madrid City Council, presented the award to Real Madrid. "Marca España is Spanish sport, but to say Madrid and to say success is to say Real Madrid", said Levy. The award is intended to recognise Real Madrid's track record and the projection of the Spain brand around the world. Emilio Butragueño, Director of Institutional Relations of Real Madrid thanked them for the recognition. "We were born in Madrid 120 years ago and we feel very proud to represent Spain. We live in a wonderful country with exceptional people and we hope to continue to defend the prestige of our country in the same way in the years to come. 

Levy also presented the Award for Corporate Excellence to the Loewe Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to promote creativity and educational programmes in the areas of poetry, dance, photography, design and crafts. Sheila Loewe, President of the Loewe Foundation has received the award "to receive this award is a great joy and it is all thanks to the excellence that we achieve at the Loewe Foundation. We love it when we go out of Spain to make our homeland because the soul of Loewe is from Madrid".

The influencer Natalia Cebrián has presented the award to Lladró, the company is an icon of exclusive decoration style that from its only factory in Valencia has been able to export its brand and, therefore, the Spanish brand to all corners of the world. Ana Rodríguez, CEO of Lladró "Since its origin, Lladró has been a very international company and the brand's vocation has always been to expand its market by exporting Spanish craftsmanship from Valencia. We feel very honoured to be ambassadors for Spain".

Cebrián also acknowledged the work of ESADE, the business school with more than 60 years of history that has trained students from all over the world. María Díaz, ESADE Director of Communication, Brand and International Relations. "At ESADE, we try to make Madrid and Spain an international pole of attraction through education.

The chef, Julián Marmol has been chosen to recognise the trajectory of the Osborne Group, which this year celebrates 250 years with its strategic brands, leaders in their categories, which has allowed them to take their products, with the Spanish seal, all over the world. Rocío Osborne, Director of Communications at the Osborne Group has received the award "internationalisation has always been in Osborne's DNA and almost a quarter of a century later and eight generations later, Osborne has diversified its business, dedicating itself to taking products from all over Spain to the world, we are ambassadors of Spanish gastronomy".

Sandra Andujar presented another of the awards to El Corte Inglés, the largest department store chain in Europe and a benchmark for commerce in Spain, which has received Javier Fernandez Andrino, Director of International Customer and Luxury at El Corte Inglés and Travel Advisor at El Corte Inglés. "At El Corte Inglés we are making a great effort at an international level to ensure that the Spain brand is recognised internationally".

Ana Alonso presented the award to Banco Santander, one of the most valued brands in the world, internationally recognised for the trust and credibility it transmits, and for taking Spanish culture to all corners of the world. The award was collected by Jaime Uscola, Director of International Business at Santander, "We are very excited about this recognition because our vocation has been international from the beginning. 99% of our potential customers live outside Spain and there are many sectors of which we should feel very proud".

Rosana Morillo, Director General of Tourism of the Balearic Islands, presented the Award for Corporate Excellence to the hotel chain Meliá Hoteles. Meliá has been recognised for the projection of its brand abroad and for positioning the Spain brand in all the countries where it is present.  Francisca Mérida, Senior Director Business Development Spain of Meliá Hotels InternationalWe hope that Meliá has served as an inspiration for other entrepreneurs. Tourism is the sector that has shown the greatest resilience during the pandemic and now it is one of those that is recovering remarkably and it is time to highlight the value of Spanish tourism and hospitality in the world".

The gala featured a performance by the musicians of the show Suite Gades by the Antonio Gades Company for the Teatro Magno. This is one of the most exclusive cultural and flamenco events in Madrid today, as it is a Gadesian concept of this art form, avant-garde in its time and today considered a reference point.