Europa Press Bilbao

Bilbao

Updated Monday, February 19, 2024-14:33

Alejandro Echevarría Busquet,

honorary president of Mediaset España and member of the boards of directors of

El Correo, El Diario Vasco, El Diario Montañés

, died this Monday at the age of 81, at the Urduliz Hospital (Vizcaya).

According to the aforementioned newspapers, his extensive professional career has been linked not only to the

media

and the audiovisual sector, but also to different companies with Basque roots, to important companies in the Spanish economy and to different social and cultural initiatives.

Born in Bilbao in 1942, he belonged through his father to a well-known family saga linked to the Biscayan press. His grandfather, Manuel Echevarría Torres, was the founder and first director of

El Noticiero Bilbaíno

. His father, Alejandro Echevarría Zorrozúa, incorporated the latter newspaper into the company led by the Ybarra family -

El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco

- in 1945, where in 1951 he was appointed director of the newspaper El Correo, a position that he combined for a time with his responsibilities as manager and advisor of the company.

Alejandro Echevarría Busquet graduated in Business Sciences from ESTE in San Sebastián and worked for years in a Vitoria-based company dedicated to automotive components and another

ten years as a commercial manager

until he was named general director of the Sagardui home appliance company.

In 1980 he was appointed CEO of El Correo and after the entry of Grupo Correo into the shareholding of Gestevisión-Telecinco, Alejandro Echevarría Busquet was first appointed director of the company that would later become

Mediaset España and later president of the same

, in 1996, a professional stage extended until April 2022.

In the business field, he participated on the boards of directors and in the corporate governance of companies such as

Antena 3, Acciona, Endesa, Tubacex and Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España

(CVNE) and was president of the Basque Businessmen's Circle from 2003 to 2006. He was also part of the board of trustees of some Third Sector institutions such as the Novia Salcedo Foundation, the Tubacex Foundation, the Bilbao Choral Society or the Social Council of the University of Deusto.

Recognitions

Among the numerous recognitions and distinctions he received are the Bridgestone Award for Sustainable Development (2009), the APM Miguel Moya Award for his extensive professional career (2009), the

Ramón Rubial for an entire business career

(2014) and the Annual Festival Award of Television of Vitoria-Gasteiz for being one of the most relevant Basques in the television business field.

In 2022, he launched the

Comunicando Futuro Foundation

as an "independent, professional and integrative" platform dedicated to optimizing the training of professionals in the communication sector and promoting their transition to the digital transition, as well as combating misinformation and the impact of Fake News, rewarding professionals who report with rigor and informative transparency.

His last public appearance was precisely on February 14 at the presentation of the II communication awards of the foundation he presided over, where, in his speech, Alejandro Echevarría highlighted the "valuable

role of credible and verified information

in a society like the of nowadays".