El Corte Inglés Revamps Leadership Following Bottazzini’s Unexpected Departure

New change at El Corte Inglés. The Spanish department store group will meet today its board of directors with the aim of reorganizing its management team, after the company’s decision to dispense with its former CEO, Gaston Bottazzini, according to El Confidencial.

The executive, who comes from the Chilean group Falabella, joined the company at the end of 2023 as an advisor to Marta Álvarez, president of El Corte Inglés, and in July 2024 he was appointed CEO. Bottazzini’s departure is due to differences of opinion with the shareholders of the department store group.

The company’s CEO, until now, had the mission of designing and implementing the 2025-2030 strategic plan, which began in April 2025 and has a planned investment of €3.3 billion in store remodeling, business expansion and growth in logistics and technological capabilities.

El Corte Inglés brought Bottazzini on board as an advisor at the end of 2023 and appointed him CEO in 2024

Bottazzini’s departure comes as a surprise considering that in the last year the chairwoman had given him full powers, even eliminating the delegated commission that oversaw the work of the executive and management bodies.

The 2024 financial year, closed in February 2025, was the first full year under Gastón Bottazzini’s leadership. El Corte Inglés posted total revenues of €16.675 billion for the year, an increase of 2% over the previous year and 4.3% on a like-for-like basis.

The company ended the year with a net income of €512 million, an increase of 6.7% compared to 2023, while recurring net income amounted to €470 million.

Marta Álvarez became president of El Corte Inglés in July 2019. When she took office, executive functions were in the hands of Jesús Nuño de la Rosa and Víctor del Pozo, as co-CEOs.

The former (who in 2018 was appointed chairman, the fifth in the company’s history and the first from outside the family) left El Corte Inglés in January 2020 after gradually losing power. The latter did so in 2022, just two months after being renewed in the position until 2027, due to differences of vision on the group’s corporate structure.

With Del Pozo’s departure, El Corte Inglés introduced a new structure: the group’s highest management body became a delegated executive committee, which included Marta Álvarez and two new general managers. The first, José María Folache, with a long career in the fashion sector, took over the retail business. The second, Santiago Bau, took over the rest of the corporate business.

Bottazzini’s incorporation at the end of 2023 as an advisor and later appointed CEO triggered a reorganization of the first executive line, with the departure of José María Folache from the company. Following his departure, the company decided to split its functions into three: Laura Moreno took over the purchasing division for fashion, home, culture and leisure, toys, jewelry, costume jewelry, watches, beauty and Bricor. Food, hospitality and Club del Gourmet were headed by Roberto Gómez, while electronics and household appliances were taken over by Víctor Llatas.