El Corte Inglés dismisses chief executive Gastón Bottazzini after one year

The Spanish department store chain is restructuring its executive leadership. El Corte Inglés has decided to dismiss Gastón Bottazzini as CEO, barely a year after his appointment in July 2024. The decision by the company chaired by Marta Álvarez comes in the wake of internal disagreements with the group’s principal shareholder families, according to El Confidencial. Bottazzini initially served as Álvarez’s personal adviser before being named her right-hand man at last year’s general shareholders’ meeting.

Bottazzini took the lead on the 2025–2030 strategic plan, which included a €3 billion investment to modernise the group’s shopping centres. His appointment prompted the dissolution of the executive committee that had overseen management following the departure of Víctor del Pozo in 2022.

In recent years, the company has undergone significant changes at the top. After Del Pozo’s departure, the CEO role remained vacant until Bottazzini’s arrival, while José María Folache, then managing director, left the company in October 2024, after a brief transition period, as he neared retirement. These changes run in parallel with the group’s five-year roadmap, focused on digitisation and the renewal of its retail network.

Founded in 1940, the Madrid-based retail group, chaired by Marta Álvarez, closed its 2024 financial year with turnover of €16.675 billion, up 2% on the previous year.