In the latest strategic plan of Criteria, the financial arm of the La Caixa Banking Foundation, the 30% stake in Caixabank came to be considered “foundational.” The reason: that CaixaBank “shares the same historical origin as La Caixa and that gives meaning to its nature as a banking foundation.” The latter commits not to reduce its stake in the bank and to ensure that “the management of CaixaBank’s financial activity is consistent with the traditional values of the Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona, ”la Caixa,” the entity that gave rise to the La Caixa foundation.”
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La Caixa was born as a savings and social work entity, in a single entity, and it was the legal and legal nature changes imposed after the last financial crisis of 2008 that forced one to be split from the other, the foundation on one side, the bank on the other; but the goal of both entities remains the same and common, according to the strategic document of the financial group chaired by Isidro Fainé.
One of the most visible expressions of that identity is the common use of the iconic five-pointed Miró star – evoking a blue human figure, accompanied by two colored dots, referring to the senyera – as a commercial image for CaixaBank and an identity sign for La Caixa. But that star has an economic value that must be reflected in the accounts of the entities involved. And its use by Caixabank implies the payment of an annual fee to the owner, that is, to La Caixa.
In the last year, 2025, the bank paid “for the license of the La Caixa brand (…) and the distinctive sign “Joan Miró star,” an annual fee of 3.2 million euros, the result of successive updates since the initial agreement signed in 2014 and which included an “independent expert valuation report” that estimated it at 1.6 million.
Now, the agreement has been revised. The new regulatory framework was approved at the bank’s last board meeting, held at the end of April. According to sources consulted, the fee has practically doubled to almost 7 million euros, considering the size of the bank after the merger with Bankia and the enormous growth of its business volume. Caixabank is, by far, the leading bank in the Spanish market, around 25%. The agreement, like the previous one, has indefinite validity, in accordance with the foundational nature of La Caixa’s stake in CaixaBank.
The star is part of a 1980 drawing by the universal artist expressly for La Caixa when Josep Vilarasau was its general director and is located at its headquarters in the small black tower on the Diagonal where the Foundation has its headquarters.
A layoff plan that has affected 189 workers
Mediapro, the Barcelona audiovisual group, is still immersed in its restructuring process after the replacement of its two main executives, first Jaume Roures, then Tatxo Benet, successive presidents, until the change imposed by its majority shareholder, the Chinese group Orient Hontair. Now the executive team is led by Sergio Oslé and Carlos Núñez, president and CEO respectively.
The company has recently closed a layoff plan that has affected 189 workers out of a total of over 5,500 employees, just over 3%. Most of the layoffs have focused on central and corporate services, in Madrid and Barcelona. According to sources consulted, the balance in the weight of both cities has not changed after the adjustments and layoffs. Neither in the management teams nor in the rest.
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The group has informed the Generalitat of Salvador Illa about its plans and its willingness to maintain its headquarters and most of its operations in the Catalan capital, sources consulted say. Sources from the Generalitat, for their part, have assured that they are following the matter with great interest, always seeking to ensure the Catalan identity of Mediapro. Something that, they have assured this newspaper, they do not see at risk.
Regarding the phase prior to the arrival of the new executive team hired by the Chinese owner, only the purchase of the 5% stake from Tatxo Benet remains pending. Roures already sold shortly after his dismissal for a figure exceeding 40 million euros.
According to some sources, Benet now demands a similar amount, but Orient Hontair would offer much less, around 15 million. The first figure would imply valuing Mediapro at about 1,000 million. But Orient’s representatives would consider that during the time elapsed since it bought Roures’s shares, in mid-2023, when Benet assumed the executive presidency and his replacement, last October, Mediapro’s economic reality has deteriorated.
However, sources consulted by this newspaper assure that these figures do not correspond to the reality of the negotiations. Meanwhile, Benet has executed a clause included in the agreement for the entry of the Chinese group into the Catalan company, at the beginning of 2018 and renewed in 2022, which granted the former shareholders the right to appoint a vice president and a non-director vice secretary.
Thus, Benet, who already had the right to be a director with his 5%, is also vice president, although this does not imply any substantial change. Likewise, he has appointed his wife, notary Camino Quiroga, as vice secretary, without a position on the board.
Benet holds his stake in Mediapro through his holding company, Atas Corp. This participates in or controls companies such as the Ona bookstore, 90%; Aitona d’agricultura, the Dutch Spring 2012, or the real estate company Tarragona.
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