Active, dedicated and professional. These are the three adjectives that are repeated the most when in the business world you ask about Núria Vilanova (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1965), founder and president of Atrevia. They have been dedicated to communication for more than 35 years and continue to do so. As president of the Alianza por Iberoamérica Business Council (CEAPI), a position she has held since 2014, she perceives the current situation as “a golden opportunity” for Spain to position itself as a “great ally” of Latin America in its relations with Europe, a role that the Catalan businesswoman already performs for countless Ibero-American investors who consider her an essential contact to start their projects in Spain.

The next edition of the CEAPI Congress, the fifth, is just around the corner. What do you expect from this year's event? Despite the doubts raised by the wave of political changes in Latam and unforeseen situations such as the pandemic or the war in Ukraine, all of this has contributed to the fact that the Ibero-American region is now more strategic than ever for Spain and for Europe. The role of Spain in Latin America has been greatly strengthened. The sum of these factors makes us live in a moment of opportunity, but one of conscious opportunity and with commitments because there are challenges that businessmen cannot be oblivious to or leave only in the hands of governments to face the real problems of society.. We will talk about all this at the CEAPI Congress that will start on May 30. If we look at Pedro Sánchez's international agenda, it does not seem that Ibero-America has gained weight, rather the opposite… Spain's weight in Ibero-America is being marked by the decisions of people and businessmen. That is what is brutally consolidating the relationship between both regions. What is missing is not so much the commitment of a president, but a joint national strategy where the government and companies work hand in hand.. Since the time of Felipe González and former president José María Aznar, there has not been such a turn towards Latin America. What is happening at the business level? There has been a very interesting process. Historically, relationships had been one-way.. Spain invested in Latam. Now they are multidirectional. Although there were some specific cases, the great phenomenon that is breaking out with force and that has accelerated in the last three years is that now it is Latin America that chooses Spain as an investment destination. How do these investors perceive some of the fiscal measures of the Government? like the tax on large estates? The tax on large fortunes sends a very dangerous message. Although it is temporary, the concept that people stick with is that, in the end, it is a tax.. and who knows when they withdraw it. It may make political sense, but the fact that Spain is chosen as a country for investment brings us so much that this global vision cannot be lost. The aspiration must be to become the new City. We have a chance and those messages don't help. We live in a world of blacks and whites, of simple messages, and what remains is that in Spain there is a tax on the rich. What does Spain offer? Options to invest in the purchase of companies or assets. Also an environment to create the so-called ETVE (Foreign Securities Holding Entities), which means that when these companies decide to internationalize they choose Spain to set up their holding company because it is a country that offers advantages. Which ones? Mainly there are three. First, Spain has more agreements on tax issues, on double taxation, with Latin America than any of the countries in the Ibero-American region with its neighbors.. For international investments, having your holding company in Spain instead of in your country of origin tax benefits. The EU also has many investment protection agreements, so by becoming a European company through Spain, it provides them with a legal shield against arbitration or other processes. Secondly, the Spanish market also opens doors for them to access the capital market, which in Latam is much poorer, and other sources of financing, from loans to private equity funds (venture capital). And the third? There where you have a holding you have to hold councils and shareholders meetings and the Latin American investor finds it great to have to come to Spain three times a year.. even if it is for work. In what position does Spain play in the global race for Latam? There are new players struggling to grow in Latin America, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, India, the Middle East, Korea.. No one is going to ask us for permission to go to Latam. What should Spain aspire to? We could be the strategic partners, great allies, of the Ibero-American investor in its relations with the European Union. We have been for years, in which the Spanish subsidiaries of multinationals and large funds have managed the internationalization towards Latin America. It is a great opportunity. And are the Spanish authorities heading in that direction? In the case of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, they are playing an impressive role in relations with Latin America, where people consider them their own and that helps us a lot to create link and common project. The President of the Government is working along these lines, but hopefully the entire central Executive, the autonomies and all the institutions will mobilize in this effort. Companies are already doing it, but together we would go further.