Ignacio Galán, the executive chairman of Iberdrola, received the Gold Medal of the Cursos de la Granda on Monday in recognition of his professional career, the Spanish energy group said. The award was presented by Benigno Pendás, president of the courses and of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.
The medal is a distinction awarded to figures of significant intellectual, institutional or cultural prestige. It was presented during the official opening ceremony of the 48th edition of the Cursos de La Granda, held in Avilés, Asturias, with a laudatio delivered by Fernando Becker and the participation of several institutional authorities.
The Academy said the honor recognized Galán's career and his contribution to thought, culture and public debate, describing him as one of the leading figures in the global energy sector. It said he had anticipated, ahead of others, the shift toward electrification through clean energy, smart grids and storage to strengthen the autonomy, security and competitiveness of territories.
Since 2001, the Academy said, Galán has led a profound transformation of Iberdrola, turning it into the largest electricity company in Europe and one of the two largest in the world by market capitalization, having surpassed 140 billion euros. The company now operates in dozens of countries and supplies electricity to 100 million people.
Ties to Asturias
In his remarks, Galán highlighted the special significance of the recognition in Asturias, a region with which he maintains close personal and professional ties. He underscored the historic role of the Principality as a driver of major transformations in Spain, praising its ability to combine tradition with modernity, entrepreneurship with culture, and its own identity with openness to the world.
Galán said Iberdrola had been both a witness to and a driver of Asturias's transformation, from a model based on coal to one built around electrification and clean energy.
Investment in Asturian suppliers
In just five years, Galán said, Iberdrola has multiplied its purchases from Asturian suppliers to reach 1.6 billion euros, while developing pioneering electrification projects. He said this had helped generate jobs, economic activity and new opportunities for the region.
Call for a new industrialization
Galán argued that the world is facing a historic opportunity to drive a new wave of industrialization based on electrification, one that could strengthen energy autonomy, improve competitiveness and advance sustainability.
He recalled that over the past 25 years, Iberdrola has invested close to 40 billion euros in Spain in clean energy, grids and storage, and said the company aims to keep consolidating its position as the country's leading industrial investor.
Seizing that opportunity, Galán said, will require adequate energy planning, an incentivizing regulatory framework and the investment capacity of leading companies.
