Mallorcan hotelier is among the richest in the country

Spain's big fortunes have seen their wealth fall by 7% to 143 billion, due to the war in Ukraine, inflation, rising commodity and energy prices, as well as interest rate policy and "the impending recession", according to the Forbes list. This loss of wealth means that each millionaire has reduced his or her portfolio by an average of 286,301 euros per day. Despite the drop in wealth, the top five on the list - Amancio Ortega and his daughter Sandra (Inditex); Rafael del Pino (Ferrovial); Juan Roig (Mercadona) and Juan Carlos Escotet (Banesco) account for almost half of the total fortunes, 48.6% or 69,300 million.

Amancio Ortega consolidates his leadership with 53,500 million, although his fortune is reduced by 20.15% compared to 67,000 million in 2021, equivalent now to the sum of the 27 Spaniards who follow him in the list; his daughter Sandra, the only woman in the top five, has 5,400 million, 14% less than last year. "It is more profitable to own Inditex than Facebook," Andrés Rodríguez, chairman and editor of Forbes Spain, told Efe, who considers it "very difficult" to enter the list of the 100 richest people in Spain, as in many cases they are family fortunes in a country without large emerging or technological companies.

The chairman of Ferrovial, with 3.8 billion, remains in third place, ahead of the chairman of Mercadona, who is fourth with 3.4 billion; and Escotet, also chairman and major shareholder of Abanca, who is fifth with 3.2 billion. Escotet is the only one of the top five fortunes to have seen his wealth increase by 18%. The president and editor of Forbes in Spain also points out that the country's richest people are, at the same time, the biggest employers. Daniel Maté, shareholder of the mining company Glencore, climbs to sixth place with 3.1 billion and displaces Juan Abelló, with 2.8 billion.

The strongest rise of the year in the Forbes list was made by Carmen and Luis Riu. The most significant entry in the ranking has been that of the CEO of the renewable energy company EiDF, Fernando Romero, who has been placed directly in 34th place due to the revaluation of his company on the stock exchange. This year's list has 19 additions with an average wealth of 400 million, bringing the total to 7,550 million. Among the new additions, in addition to the aforementioned Fernando Romero, Primitiva Renedo stands out together with Dolores and Josefa Ortega, shareholders of Inditex.

Also joining the list are the brothers Josep, Óscar and Meritxell Vall, owners of the Vall Companys meat group; Joan Font, president of the Bon Preu supermarket group and Simón Pedro Barceló, co-president of the Barceló group, who returns to the Forbes list in 61st place among the richest people in Spain. For the first time, Forbes Spain publishes the list of the 75 richest women in Spain, a ranking that includes 34 names that are not present in the list of the 100 largest fortunes. The wealth of these 75 women is 37,450 million euros, an average of 500 million per head, which contrasts with the fortune of the 75 richest men, who have 116,400 million or 1,550 million each, three times more. By region, Madrid is the region with the most female millionaires on the list, with 16 fortunes totalling 10.95 billion.

Madrid has 35 natives who accumulate a total of 35,900 million euros. As a curiosity, Forbes highlights the rise of more than 20 positions of Nieves and Daniel Entrecanales, shareholders of Acciona, and the incorporation of David Ruiz de Andrés, founder of Grenergy Renovables, with a fortune of 600 million. Catalonia is the second richest region, 29, with an average wealth of 605 million. It is followed by Galicia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. In the last positions are Cantabria, La Rioja and Navarra, which do not have any fortune in the list of the 100 richest Spaniards.

Despite not appearing among the 100 richest, Rafa Nadal is the Spanish sportsman with the most wealth and he is on the verge of entering the list with 250 million euros.