This week, the Twenty-eighth Ordinary General Assembly of the Alicante State Family Business Association (AEFA) gathered business representatives from across the region. The event highlighted the vital role family-owned firms play as pillars of social welfare and economic stability.
During the assembly, Maite Anton, president of AEFA, underscored the significance of family businesses, which constitute about 92% of the province’s business fabric. Anton noted that these enterprises do more than create jobs and wealth; they are a driving force behind the province’s economic and social development.
In this context, Anton urged executives to champion policies that encourage new business creation and ease the tax burden, thereby sustaining economic activity and generating jobs and income to support the welfare state. The directive stated that higher taxes and increased fiscal pressure are not the solution and reminded that Spain currently carries the largest fiscal burden among OECD countries.
Also addressing the gathering, Manuel Ríos Arias, president of the AEFA Forum, announced a slate of events carried out by the Forum in the previous year. A broad delegation of young family business leaders from the Alicante province attended the assembly, reinforcing the association’s active involvement in shaping the regional business landscape.
AEFA officials highlighted that the General Assembly was a timely moment to review progress from the past year. From 2022 activities alone, more than 50 direct initiatives and collaborations with other organizations highlighted the association’s ongoing engagement. The number of affiliate companies reached 174, marking AEFA as one of the most representative family business associations in Spain with a provincial focus.
Recent additions to AEFA’s network include Alehop, Aluminum and PVC, Balearia, Bateig Piedra Natural, Beniconnect, Cayro, Compañía Levantina de Reductores, Hersig, Grupo Indalva, Josep Llorca Construcciones, Grupo La Grajera, MPC Group, and Forty through 2022 and into March 2023. With these new members, AEFA continues to strengthen its network and its role as an advocate for family businesses in Alicante.
II. Family Business Provincial Meeting
Following the General Assembly, the II Family Business Provincial Meeting proved highly successful. More than 170 participants from politics, society, and business gathered, including prominent experts and entrepreneurs. The event served as a forum for reflection and debate on topics crucial to the local business community.
Maite Anton, the AEFA president, opened the event with a call for political leaders to rebuild consensus and to pursue policies that foster an economy benefiting all residents. Notable advances included support for the Inheritance and Charitable Tax bonus, achievable with broad political backing.
And he used the moment to address underfunding in the province and across the Valencian Community: a situation described as a serious injustice and missed opportunity for the region and the country. Anton argued that every euro invested in Alicante translates into higher activity and tax revenue than in many other areas.
Both the meeting and the general assembly enjoyed the backing of the Alicante County Council and Banco Santander. In this context, the Valencia regional directorate and the head of Companies and SMEs for Banco Santander in Murcia highlighted that the organization provided 475 million ICO loans last year, representing a sizable share of Spain’s financial system. The Alicante Provincial Assembly President, Carlos Mazón, thanked the alliance with AEFA for defending the province and for measures like removing the IAE surcharge and allocating funds for consumer bonds and support for the self-employed.
During the assembly, Army Colonel Pedro Baños delivered a presentation on understanding the current world, offering geopolitical and economic insights into the global landscape. He warned that the world as it was is no longer the same and urged prudent policymakers in Europe and Spain to grasp new geopolitical dynamics and to seek peaceful ways to fit into this evolving puzzle rather than getting drawn into conflicts not of their making.
Concluding the program, a roundtable moderated by Mayte Torregrosa, What can we do for a rapid economic recovery, brought together Grupo Gibeller’s Marketing and Communications Director and three family business leaders. Participants included the co-owner of Grupo Tenepa, Saray Munoz; the CEO of Invest Corporation, Santiago Royo; and the general manager of Neoflex Adhesives, Pepe Escobar. They discussed rising costs in construction, supply deficiencies, and bureaucratic hurdles that erode competitiveness.