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Other participants
at “Fridays at the Residence”
Javier López-Galiacho
Javier López-Galiacho, director of FCC’s
Corporate Responsibility, participated in
one of the Friday events, with a presenta-
tion on the Cuban artist, Antonio Machín.
Antonio Machín, whose real name was An-
tonio Abad Lugo Machín, was born in Cuba
in 1903, the son of Galicia-born José and a
native mulatta named Leoncia.
Despite his father’s insistence that he be-
come a plumber or that he studied another
trade, Antonio wanted to become a singer
and, when he was just 15 years old, left
for Havana where he was discovered by
Miguel Zaballa. He later joined the famous
“Trío Luna” and later joined the orchestra of
the conductor Aspiazu which served as the
springboard to fame.
In his presentation of the biographic details
of Antonio Machín, Javier López-Galiacho
played seven of the more than 2000 songs
recorded by the artist. The crowd at the
residence joined as sang along. Before the
conference began, the lyrics of the songs
were distributed, such as those for the fa-
mous songs “Toda una vida”, “El manise-
ro”, “Angelitos negros”, “Madrecita”, “Mira
que eres linda”, “Dos gardenias” and “Es-
peranza”.
This was a way to spark the interest of the
senior citizens at the home and have them
join and sing along.
Juan Luis Regaliza, the director of training
at El Corte Inglés, visited the Collado Vi-
llalba home last February to share some
thoughts on the large department stores of
El Corte Inglés and the key to this chain’s
success. As Juan Luis mentioned, “Society
changes very quickly and that is the reason
why professional training is essential for the
success and future of companies”.
The concept behind department stores,
where one can find all types of products
at the same location, was imported by Ra-
món Areces who, when he was 16 years
old, left for Cuba and settled in Havana.
There he began to work at the “El Encanto”
department stores. When he was 20, he
moved to New York where he studied the
commercial techniques of the leading New
York department stores.
Shortly before the start of the Spanish ci-
vil war, Ramón Areces and his uncle César
Rodríguez bought a small tailor shop in Ma-
drid known as “El Corte Inglés”. The rest is
history; this shop became the leading Spa-
nish department store chain.
He showed a film and explained the inves-
tment that el Corte Inglés makes in order
to train its employees, those who are new
at the company as well as those who have
been working there for a long time.
El Corte Inglés stresses that it is important
to train its workers regardless of their for-
mer experience and background.
Juan Luis Regaliza told the audience that,
despite the economic crisis, el Corte Inglés
continues to hire new workers and that trai-
ning is given so that its employees can have
a career inside the company that provides
o c i a l
e s p on s i b i l i t y