Awards spotlight for Hispanitas, Grupo Magic Costa Blanca and Quinton at the AEFA Prize event
The families behind Hispanitas, Grupo Magic Costa Blanca, and Quinton will be recognized at the AEFA Awards this year. The ceremony is scheduled for October 1 at 12:00 p.m. in the Benidorm Cultural Center. The news was announced during the AEFA provincial Family Business Association of Alicante event, marking the twenty-ninth edition of these business accolades.
The ceremony will culminate with the Honorary Award Manuel Peláez Castillo being presented to Francisco Gómez Andreu, founder and current president of Grupo Marjal. The tribute honors his long career as a family entrepreneur and his strong ties to the Alicante business community. Gómez Andreu previously chaired AEFA from 2011 to 2019 and has held other leadership roles such as president of COEPA and chair of the UA Social Council. He has also collaborated with UEPAL and the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations.
The awards are organized with the support of regional and local institutions, including the Generalitat, the Alicante Provincial Council, and CaixaBank. The launch event for the twenty-ninth edition also featured the Alicante Consell delegate Agustina Esteve; the provincial council’s Economic Development and European Projects manager Carlos Pastor; CaixaBank’s regional director for the Valencian Community and the Murcia region, Olga García; CaixaBank’s commercial director for Enterprises in the Valencian Community and Murcia, Felipe Pulido; and Carmen Robles, president of the Manuel Peláez Castillo Foundation.
AEFA’s mission is to recognize and highlight the work of family-owned companies in Alicante Province as engines of wealth creation and employment. The awards emphasize innovation, internationalization, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, and social engagement within the local community.
The AEFA president described the honorees as outstanding examples and sources of inspiration for other family businesses in the province. The remarks stressed that these recognitions help bring visibility to firms admired for resilience, innovation, responsible stewardship of their surroundings, and significant local economic impact. The leaders also called for fair and just financing across the region, underscoring solidarity as a core principle for all of Spain.
The delegate from the Consell announced the Generalitat Valenciana Award to Hispanitas in recognition of its enduring family enterprise both nationally and internationally. The contribution to the prestige of Spanish footwear and to the national brand was celebrated, along with the ability to adapt to new trends and materials and to place sustainability at the heart of its activities. Hispanitas traces its origins to 1925 and today operates in more than 50 countries with about 4,000 retail points. The delegate highlighted the important role family firms play in regional, Valencian, and Spanish economic development.
The Diputación Provincial de Alicante will grant its Award to Quinton, headquartered in Cox, for its exceptional path as a family business, its strong commitment to research, development, and innovation, and its strategy of internationalization. The Economic Development representative emphasized that family firms stand as examples of resilience and hard-won progress. The firm’s growing overseas footprint reflects success not only in Spain but across Europe and Asia.
Magic Costa Blanca will receive the CaixaBank Award for representing a leading sector of the local economy. The organization has diversified and innovated while keeping its family values intact. It operates more than ten accommodations along the Costa Blanca and Gandía, and aims to lead the sector through innovation, expansion, and ongoing product and service improvement.
The CaixaBank territorial director for the Valencian Community and the Murcia region noted CaixaBank’s recognition of family businesses and affirmed the bank’s commitment to supporting them through all available channels. The bank positions itself as a reference financial partner for Alicante and the broader Valencian Community.
Carmen Robles spoke about the Manuel Peláez Castillo Honor Award, which will go to Francisco Gómez for his outstanding family business trajectory and social contributions to sector associations at the provincial level and beyond. Robles expressed pride in presenting this well-deserved honor to Gómez, noting his entrepreneurial spirit and his close ties to AEFA and the wider family business community.
As announced during the presentation, the presence of the regional president Carlos Mazón and the president of the Alicante Provincial Council, Toni Pérez, was confirmed for the award gala on October 1 in Benidorm.