Constantino Fernández, Executive President of Altia, has today been announced winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Galicia. The President of the Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was in charge of presenting the award to the Galician winner of this year’s prize. The award ceremony took place today in A Coruña and brought together many representatives from the region’s business and institutional community.

After congratulating the winner of the Prize for Galicia, Núñez Feijóo used his speech to highlight - alluding to the entrepreneurs - his "personal conviction that a country is the whole of its companies, and an absolutely objective way of measuring a country is precisely the wealth it produces as a result of the talent, skill and determination of its people.”

Also in attendance, beside the President of the Xunta, were Rosa Quintana, Galician Minister of the Sea; Miguel Corgos, Galician Minister for Tax and Public Administration; Maria Novo, Vice President of Corporate Banking at BNP Paribas; Luis Arias, Alumni & Institutional Development Director at IESE Campus Madrid, and, on behalf of EY, Marta Fernández Currás, managing partner in charge of EY in Galicia, and José Luis Ruiz Expósito, partner in charge of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the national level.

Constantino Fernández said, “I thank EY for the recognition given as Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Galicia, a region that saw me grow and that saw our business project begin almost three decades ago. I extend a thank-you to our clients, to the 2,400 people that today make up Altia and to all those who have accompanied us these years and who have made it possible for me to receive this award.” He added, “We have accompanied various organizations in their technological development, in their challenges in the digital transformation. I am convinced that the best is yet to come and that the importance of the digital economy will continue to grow in the coming years. We hope to rise to the important challenges of the times ahead. You will always find in us a healthy business ambition, commitment and enthusiasm for what we do.”

For Marta Fernández Currás, EY managing partner in charge of Galicia, “The last few months have been a time for reflection and change in the way we think, live and act, a situation which our entrepreneurs are once again facing with courage. That is why our company is proud to recognize and support - especially this year - these entrepreneurial business leaders who, against all odds, continue to contribute to creating wealth and employment”.

To date, the following finalists have been announced, who will compete for the national award: for the region of Andalusia and Extremadura: Rosauro Varo, President of Gat Inversiones; representatives from the central region: Jorge Gallardo, President of Vithas, and Juan Matji, President of Cantabria Labs; and, for the north: Inaki Latxaga, President of Albacora.

Constantino Fernández will compete on 22nd June in Madrid in the national final of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, together with the other finalists from the different regions in which the award is divided. Subsequently, the entrepreneur who becomes the national winner of this edition will compete in Monte Carlo with around 60 representatives from all over the world to win the EY World Entrepreneur Year Award.

This year, the prestigious award celebrates its 25th edition and is sponsored by BNP Paribas and organised in collaboration with IESE Business School.