Telefónica turns 100 this Friday, April 19, and to celebrate, José María Álvarez-Pallete, president of 'teleco', has been in charge of ringing the honorary bell at the Madrid Stock Exchange.
The president recalled in his speech "that on this day, a young lawyer, Gumersindo Rico, was walking along Carrera de San Jerónimo to register the company." "They saw something that others did not see. They gave rise to something different, they brought communication to every corner of the country, communicating was no longer a privilege," said Álvarez-Pallete. "In five years, Spain had more telephone lines than all of Europe. Just as now, we have more fiber than the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy combined," he highlighted.
The senior manager recalled "generations of telephone workers" (as the company's workers are known) who "have marked a path, have built a company of people for people and have shown us where we have to go."
Furthermore, Álvarez-Pallete thanked his shareholders "for making the company grow." "The matildes (as the teleco shares were known in the late 1960s due to an advertising campaign) have become a financing culture, a way of seeing life," he said.
"I don't know what will happen in the next 100 years. We have never seen the confluence of technology that we are seeing now in history. What I do know is that Telefónica wants to remain relevant. The telephone company's culture of bringing technology, Communication to all places will continue to lead the way," the president highlighted.
The manager closed his speech with a warm thank you to "the telephone companies, the shareholders and the Madrid Stock Exchange."
The "opening bell" is a symbolic act that marks the official start of the trading session on a stock exchange, as well as commemorations of international days and anniversaries.
This April 19 also ends the PLAN100, the share plan launched on the occasion of the centenary to which nearly 30,000 Telefónica employees around the world signed up.
