Abel Matutes Torres (Eivissa, 1941) is known for his double political and business side thanks to the ability to take advantage of the days as if they had more than 24 hours. He studied Law and Economic Sciences at the same time while playing for RCD Espanyol: "I paid for my studies by playing football. In the morning I started at 9 a.m. at the Faculty of Law, I went to the field to train and in the afternoon I went to Economics from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends I traveled with the club. There was a moment when I could no longer combine everything and I left football", he explains in conversation with La Vanguardia.
Abel Matutes has been mayor of Ibiza, senator, deputy, president of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Likewise, professor of Political Economy and Public Finance at the University of Barcelona, academic for the Balearic Islands of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences of Spain, and also honorary professor at the University of Buenos Aires and honorary doctor of those of Santiago de Chile and Autonoma de Madrid. As a businessman, and to summarize, he was a banker and today he chairs the Matutes Group and Palladium Hotel Group: every year, thousands of people have fun in Ushuaïa, Hard Rock, Hï, Only You or Bless, to name their brands better known He is one of the most influential and respected men in Ibiza and has been recognized as an ambassador for 2023 at the annual Ibiza Luxury Destination event.
Matutes went through politics, which he abandoned after suffering a heart attack, and left a good impression. "I have always assumed the responsibilities entrusted to me and I have done my job with enthusiasm, but I do not miss politics." His best virtue is constancy and his biggest flaw, impatience, he explains to this newspaper.
His empire includes 43 hotel establishments and more than 13,000 rooms distributed between Spain, Jamaica, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Brazil. It is obligatory to ask the hotel magnate why such suggestive places as Mykonos, Hvar or the Emerald Coast, also in the Mediterranean, have been unable to emulate the success of Ibiza: "Because Ibiza has everything and, in addition, what makes it unique is its people: it is a land that has maintained an open attitude to the world since the time of the Phoenicians.
The businessman has four children, Abel, Stella, María and Carmen, and the firstborn is his natural successor. This is how he knew he could hand over to him: "Since the opening of Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, I went from being Abel Matutes to being the father of Abel Matutes [laughs]. He has always been very involved in the company, knows the operations thoroughly and has had excellent initiative. He has a good intuition for business and a lot of luck. I am blessed to have four exceptional children of whom I am very proud. They are all very different, but they share great values: they are good people, noble, hardworking and principled", he concludes.
