BarcelonaWhile the new managerial positions appointed by the Government are made public with a trickle after the exit of the Executive Board, such as the Incasòl or Avançsa directorates, new signings are also accumulating in the private world. This week Kutxabank takes a former Goldman Sachs, Mediaset has to reorganize its board and Lufthansa bets on female leaders in the commercial area.
Maria Sisternas, new director at the head of Incasòl
This Tuesday, the Government appointed Maria Sisternas as the new director of the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl), replacing Mercè Conesa, who has signed for Barcelona Global. Sisternas is an architect from the Escola Técnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (UPC) and has a master’s degree in urban design and social sciences from the London School of Economics (LSE). Throughout her professional career she has always been linked to architecture, first at Medcities Network and later as director of urban housing projects at Barcelona City Council between 2012 and 2015. She was also an associate professor from La Salle’s postgraduate degree in environmental architecture. Currently, she is the general director of Mediaurban, a digital strategy consultancy for smart cities.
Miquel Puig will be the new Secretary of Economic Affairs and European Funds
The Government has also appointed the economist Miquel Puig Raposo as the new Secretary of Economic Affairs and European Funds. Faced with the appointment, Puig has resigned from the position of councilor of ERC in Barcelona, which he held since 2019. Puig holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Barcelona, where he has been a full professor. During his career he has held several positions in the Generalitat: general director of Industrial Security and Quality, general director of Industry and secretary of the department (1984-1998) and commissioner for the Information Society (1997-1999). He was also the first director of the CTTI and of the automotive giant Idiada. Between 2000 and 2002 he held the position of general director of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA). From 2013 to the present, he has been general director of the Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya (CSUC). He was also the coordinator of the advisory committee of the Next Generation funds for Catalonia since 2020.
Oriol Alcoba, new director general of industry at the Generalitat
Among the public positions there is also that of Oriol Alcoba, until now the general manager of EsadeCreapolis, as the new general manager of Industry of the Generalitat. Alcoba is an engineer from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and a master’s degree from IQS and EADA. He has a long career in positions of responsibility such as at 22@Barcelona, director of technology transfer at ACCIÓ, director of corporate development at the Fundació Barcelona Mèdia, director at Eurecat and, from 2017 until now, he was the general director of Esade Creapolis He was also a member of the board of Creafutur and the board of Sant Cugat Empresarial.
Claudia Canals, new general manager of Avançsa
The Department of Business and Labor of the Generalitat has appointed Claudia Canals Pérez as the new general manager of Avançsa, the industrial promotion and localization company in Catalonia. Canals holds a doctorate in economics from Columbia University and a master’s degree from Pompeu Fabra University. Since 2006, he has developed his professional career in the economic studies area of CaixaBank, where he currently held the position of chief economist in the international economies and markets department. Canals will replace Josep Maria Vilarrúbia, who is now the general secretary of the Department of Economics and president of the board of the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF).
Kutxabank appoints Anton Arriola as the entity’s new president
The Basque entity Kutxabank will have Anton Arriola as president and will take over from Gregorio Villalabeitia, who has already completed eight terms at the head of the bank. After receiving approval from the European Central Bank (ECB), the board of directors will approve Arriola’s appointment as head of the bank at the next meeting. Anton Arriola is an economist from the University of Deusto and an MBA from the Bocconi University in Milan. He worked at the American bank Goldman Sachs between 1992 and 2009, and from 2003 he served as CEO.
Alessandro Salem and Massimo Musolino, new CEOs of Mediaset
The Mediaset España communication group has appointed Alessandro Salem and Massimo Musolino as the company’s new CEOs, after the current one, Paolo Vasile, announced that he will leave the position as of December 31, 2022. In this way, the managers will take possession of the new position on January 1, 2023. Specifically, Salem has experience in the editorial area, as he is the current general director of content at Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI), and also in the advertising field, given his previous time at Publitalia and later Publiespaña, of which he was general manager and CEO. At the same time, Musolino will be responsible for the areas of management and operations. These appointments are in addition to the already announced Stefano Sala as the new CEO of Publiespaña, which will also take effect from January 2023.
Lufthansa appoints Ann Boykin and Leticia Alcalá as new directors
The Lufthansa airline group has appointed Ann Boykin as the group’s new general manager in Western Europe, as well as Leticia Alcalá as Lufthansa’s new sales director for Spain. Boykin has a degree in international trade and marketing, and joined the German company in 1998. For her part, Alcalá has a degree in tourism and business and a master’s degree in commercial management. He joined Lufthansa in 2001 and has extensive experience in sales, most recently as Head of Market Development and Performance Management.
Berta Merelles, new brand and marketing manager at BTS
The consultancy BTS has appointed Berta Merelles as the new brand and marketing director. Until now, Merelles was Senior Marketing Director for the Latin America and Iberia region at BTS’ Madrid office. Graduated in economic and business sciences from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, she has a long professional career. She worked at Banco Santander as director of training and corporate development for 13 years. Previously, he worked for more than 12 years at the consulting firm Accenture, and for one year was an investment analyst at Lehman Brothers. He has been part of BTS since 2019, where he has been taking on new responsibilities.