The Vatican intends to give a high socioeconomic content to the upcoming visit of Leo XIV to Spain, between June 6 and 12. Its representatives in Spain, led by José Cobo, cardinal, archbishop of Madrid and vice president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, are organizing a social dialogue for the afternoon of next Sunday, June 7, in which, in addition to Leo XIV, the leaders of UGT and CC.OO, Pepe Álvarez and Unai Sordo, the president of the CEOE employers’ association, Antonio Garamendi, and the president of CEPYME, Ángela de Miguel.
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Initially, no government representative is expected to participate. The intention of the ecclesiastical leaders is for the debate to be broadcast internationally. The event is not yet fully confirmed, although several meetings have already taken place to implement it. Another example of the pontiff’s decision to intervene in the so-called social question and participate in debates about the situation of workers in the new technological capitalism marked by growing inequality and wealth concentration.
Cobo’s intense activity has not been limited, in the socioeconomic field, to this single front. The high economic cost of the Pope’s visit, at least 15 million euros, has led Cobo and his team – José María Albalad, delegate of economy of the archbishopric of Madrid; Javier Lapastora, member of the economic council of the latter; Fernando Giménez, deputy secretary of economic affairs of the Episcopal Conference, and Yago de la Cierva, responsible for organizing the last papal visit to Spain in 2011 – to organize a series of meetings with large Spanish companies, almost all from the Ibex, the index that groups the most important companies on the Spanish stock exchange, but also some others.
At least two dinners have been organized at the Conciliar Seminary of Madrid. Among those invited are the banks Santander, BBVA and Caixabank, Bankinter, Unicaja and the La Caixa Foundation. Telefónica, the construction company ACS, the electric company Endesa, Indra, the airline IAG, the textile company Inditex, Logista, the real estate company Merlin, Mutua Madrileña, Prosegur, El Corte Inglés, Mahou, UNIR or CEU. The goal is to gather contributions to cover the cost of the visit, either through cash injections or by providing free services, depending on each company’s field of action. Although most of those invited have committed to disbursing money or providing their services, the initiative has generated, sotto voce, some criticism both for the high cost of the visit and for the conditionality of access to the Pope based on the volume of contributions.
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The day after tomorrow, if there are no last-minute postponements, the executive committee of the Mobile World Capital Foundation will learn about the candidacies for the new CEO or general director. The list of names will be presented by the head hunter Seeliger and Conde, chaired by Luis Conde. Among them will certainly be Laia Corbella, current communications director and head of public affairs of the foundation. Corbella would be an internal bet for the continuity of the work carried out in recent years and also has excellent relations with institutional representatives and especially with the GSMA. Even so, the institution has wanted to carry out an objective and rigorous selection process.
The formal approval of the chosen person’s name will take place two weeks later, during the first days of June, when the foundation’s board of trustees, chaired by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, meets.
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The selection follows the departure last March of the previous general director, Francesc Fajula, who is expected to lead the consortium for the construction of an artificial intelligence gigafactory in the Tarragona town of Móra la Nova.
The Mobile World Capital is a public-private foundation that promotes digital development and is linked to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held annually in Barcelona. It is also the vehicle for paying the annual fee to the GSMA, the company chaired by John Hoffman that organizes the congress. The foundation’s budget is about 24 million euros.
This fee was agreed upon in 2012, after GSMA, the organizing company, opened a city host selection contest, to which a good number of world capitals applied, culminating in July 2011 with the renewal of the agreement with Barcelona. The agreement was renewed again in 2022 until 2030.
Essentially, the foundation’s main objective is to generalize and expand the impact of the MWC in Barcelona not only during the days of its celebration but throughout the year. The aim is to turn the city into an international reference in the digital field and a hub of technological activity, data, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the focus, with special attention to women.
Participants include the Barcelona City Council, the Generalitat, the State, the Fira, and the GSMA. The board of trustees, chaired by Collboni, has two vice presidencies, held by Albert Dalmau, Minister of the Presidency, and Óscar López, Minister of Digital Transformation. The executive committee consists of seven members and is chaired by Jordi Valls, deputy mayor of Barcelona, responsible for the city’s economic area.
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