SPAIN'S top 100 wealthiest residents have been revealed in the annual Forbes list, with no change for the man who has topped it now for many years: Amancio Ortega, who founded the Inditex empire in Galicia with his ex-wife, the late Rosalía Mera.
The clothing corporation, whose most famous brand is Zara, is in fact behind the top two richest Spaniards and is largely responsible for the fortune belonging to the country's wealthiest female – Amancio's daughter through his first marriage to Rosalía, Sandra Ortega Mera – although her total assets are less than a tenth of those of her father.
Whilst Amancio Ortega is reportedly worth €57 billion, Sandra's wealth is cited as €5.6bn.
Nothing has changed for the third-richest Spaniard, and second-wealthiest man in the country, either: This continues to be Juan Roig Alfonso, who started up a small, family-run grocery shop just outside Valencia which went on to become one of the nation's largest and most-used supermarket chains, Mercadona.
With a fortune of €4.1bn, Roig's chain has also helped make his wife, Hortensia Herrero, sixth-wealthiest Spaniard – she holds 27% of the shares, whilst her husband owns 50% - and, with €2.4bn to her name, she is also the second-richest woman in the country.
Alicia Koplowitz, owner of Omega Capital, is Spain's third-richest woman, with €2.2bn in assets, and comes seventh.
Fourth overall is Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, CEO of rail transport corporation Ferrovial – founded by his father, Rafael del Pino Senior – with €3.2bn, whilst his sister, María del Pino Calvo-Sotelo is eighth-wealthiest in Spain and the fourth-richest woman with €1.9bn in assets, and his twin brother Leopoldo is number 13 with a €1.4bn fortune.
Figures are rounded up to the nearest million, so even though number 12 is said to own €1.4bn in assets, the exact amount is marginally – on paper – higher than that of Leopoldo del Pino Calvo-Sotelo; Manuel Lao, ex-owner of gaming and casino company Cirsa, recently made the Barcelona-province village of Matadepera Spain's richest municipality by mean average income per head after selling most of his firm.
Juan Abelló, 78, who started out in the pharmaceutical company and now part-owns the family-run Torreal capital market investments, is worth €2.7bn, making him Spain's fifth-richest resident and fourth-richest man; Tomás Olivo of the property investment company General de Galerías Comerciales, with €1.7bn, is ninth-richest in Spain, whilst Miguel Fluxà Rosselló of the hotel chain Iberostar is 10th with €1.5bn, very slightly above Real Madrid CF's chairman and CEO of civil engineering and construction firm ACS, Florentino Pérez.
Chairwoman of Coca-Cola European Partners, Sol Daurella, is 14th on the list with €1.3bn, just above the elder brother of Mercadona's Juan Roig, Fernando Roig Alfonso.
The 73-year-old's wealth is not connected to the supermarket chain, but to his ownership of the tile company Pamesa and the fact he is chairman of Villarreal CF football club.
Founder and former owner of wedding dress chain store Pronovias, Alberto Palatchi is 16th richest and one of five whose wealth is in region of €1.2bn – budget high-street fashion store Mango's founder Isak Andic Ermay (number 17), who is originally Turkish but is a Spanish citizen and has lived in the Barcelona area for over 50 years; Alberto Cortina, owner of Alcor Financial Corporation (number 18); Thomas Andreas Meyer, founder of funky streetwear label Desigual (number 19); and Daniel Maté, a shareholder in the Anglo-Swiss commodities trading corporation Glencore (number 20).
Number 21 is Alberto Cortina's cousin, Alberto Alcocer, who co-owns Alcor Financial Corporation and is one of three whose wealth is in region of €1.1bn, along with brothers Francisco and Juan María Riberas Mera, owners of Gestamp Group autoparts.
Spain's sixth-wealthiest woman and 24th on the Forbes list for the country is Helena Revoredo Delvecchio, Argentine-Spanish chairwoman of Prosegur intruder alarms and secure courier company, and the first in the ranking whose wealth falls short of a billion, at €950 million – very slightly above that of Manuel Puig Rocha, part of the family who owns and runs the giant fashion and cosmetics corporation Puig Group, which has acquired and operates under the licence of brands of the magnitude of Christian Louboutin, Comme des Garçons, Dries van Noten, Jean Paul Gaultier, Adolfo Domínguez, Victorio & Lucchino, Penhaligon's, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Paco Rabanne and Carolina Herrera.
Legendary crooner Julio Iglesias – currently embroiled in a paternity suit with Valencia-born Javier Santos, 44 – is at number 29 with a fortune of €800m, although he mostly lives in Miami, Florida rather than in Spain.
Owner and founder of one of Madrid's 'big three' art galleries, Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, is at number 37 with €600m.
TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
THE average Spanish resident will spend between €500 and €1,500 on their holidays this year, with three in 10 set to increase their budget from last year and 16% reducing it.
SPAIN'S State post office has launched a new solution for passing travellers who do not want to lug their suitcases around: Lockers for bags are now provided, with prices depending upon weight.
