The role of former minister Cristina Garmendia at the head of Mediaset and her most personal side

The appointment of Cristina Garmendia (San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, February 21, 1962) as president of Mediaset she was a winner. Already in December, as soon as the departure of Borja Prado of the Spanish subsidiary of the media group, we point to Zapatero’s former minister, whose appointment was approved this Tuesday by the company’s board. The former president of Endesa had to leave office due to disagreements with the management of the Italian company and specifically with his CEO. It seems like it was an eternity ago but, just a year ago, Borja Prado still scored several goals: having taken the listed company to the Netherlands without making as much noise as Ferrovial and having cleaned up the battered image of the house by removing the universe of Fuencarral from Save me.

Furthermore, Borja Prado had it in him Alessandro Salem and with Pedro Piqueras, meddling in the editorial line of the News, and supported the signing of Vicente Valles (who said no to the offer), while waiting for the arrival of Alberto Núñez Feijóo to Moncloa after the July 23 elections.

Not all things went as Borja had planned. In 2023, the Spanish subsidiary of Mediaset reduced its income by 3.7% and its gross operating profit (Ebitda) by more than 10%. Furthermore, it is obvious that the PP does not govern nor does it seem that the replacement in the Executive will arrive the day after tomorrow; Piqueras left as heir to Franganillo and, although La Fábrica de la Tele and its “apestados telebasureros” were expelled from Mediaset (as we already announced in November), the geeks of Survivors y Jorge Javier Vazquez They are today the only guarantors of good audiences on Telecinco, a network that has not yet recovered from the disaster that began before the replacement of Paolo Vasile and hit the ground with the subsequent process of metamorphosis, still in full development. By the way, this Friday the former presenter of Save me returns as a big star in aid of Friday prime time, the space where he reigned with the missing Deluxe the host of that “faggots and reds” program.

Admirable CV

Not as red as Jorge Javier is Cristina Garmendia, its brand new president, who was Minister of Sciences and Innovation between 2008 and 2011 during the second government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The Basque woman had already been present on the Mediaset board since 2017 as an independent director and member of two committees: the Appointments and Remuneration committee and the Audit and Company Compliance committee. The biologist met the former socialist president at a CSIC event. Shortly after, she received a call from Moncloa to join the Observatory for Science and Technology of Zapatero’s Economic Office. Four years later, she was placed in charge of the Science and Innovation portfolio. He left politics 13 years ago.

Little given to intrigue and much less entangler than her predecessor, she has an admirable resume: this doctor in Biological Sciences has combined her presence on the boards of powerful Spanish companies with her career in the world of innovation, where she presides over the COTEC Foundation. In addition, the San Sebastian native is present on the boards of CaixaBank and Logista, where she is vice president, and she is also a proprietary director of the management company Ysios Capital Partners. Garmendia founded Satlantis, a startup dedicated to the launch of nanosatellites, and is a member of the Space Advisory Council of the European Commission and was part of the board of directors of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE). Considered one of the most prestigious scientists, she has received, among others, the National Biotechnology Award.

His salary and his role at Mediaset

In Mediaset, its executive power will be very reduced, although not non-existent. His salary has not been made public. The salary of the deceased Alejandro Echevarría was around one million euros. Company sources explain to Informalia that Garmendia “will not influence either the editorial line or the programming,” although she will be a magnificent institutional representative and her presence is expected in important forums, including Zarzuela, where Garmendia has proven to have sympathy. As president of Cotec, she managed the manufacture of respirators for those affected by Covid and her image was widely disseminated after holding a video conference with the Kings. Garmendia’s role in the pandemic was notable.

Returning to his work at Mediaset, the sources consulted also say that “he will be one of the people who receives calls from Moncloa when they don’t like something about Telecinco.” But, at an operational level, the presidency is not so relevant. In fact, Mediaset has had the position vacant for half a year without any problem. Another thing is that her voice as her advisor is heard and taken into account when making decisions, beyond the day to day, such as the development for the programming of the new season in September, and the replacement of Manuel Villanueva as responsible for Content.

Garmendia undoubtedly contributes to one of the priorities of the audiovisual giant: whiten the image. But Mediaset will also have to consolidate the new news programs (before and after programs make up at least 50%), consolidate and continue growing the type formats. Chain reaction, look for new faces and scratch at your battered prime time something that is not realities. The uncertain arrival of Carlos Latre to access prime time, where he will compete with Pablo Motos and Broncano, and not so much the improvable data of Ana Rose in the evenings.

Outside Spain, the successors of Silvio Berlusconi, They find themselves a year after the death of Il Cavaliere with a major fire in Germany, where a share battle threatens control of their German subsidiary after its Board rejected the plans of the magnate’s heirs to divide the company: only They achieved 70% of the affirmative votes (Media for Europe has 30% of the capital), when 75% were necessary.

Married to an engineer, with two children and very athletic

Cristina Garmendia is married to the engineer from Bilbao Ruben Celaya, vice president of the Amasua group. They have two children: Ander and Teresa. She is a very family-oriented woman and she usually spends the summer with her husband in Malaga, where she does not rule out spending time after her retirement. She loves traveling, literature and is from the Royal Society. In the business field, the couple promoted Inbiomed, a foundation dedicated to cellular research. The new president of Mediaset is the youngest of two sisters and she belongs to a family of the Basque upper bourgeoisie. She studied at a French school and studied Biology in Seville. During this stage in the Seville capital she fell in love with the El Rocío pilgrimage. But before, in her land, she had been queen of the Bataplán troupe, a well-known nightclub on the Concha beach in San Sebastián. She is very athletic and practices swimming, sports gymnastics and skiing.