Spain 2026
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
General counsel, compliance officer and public affairs | ISDIN
Business advisory director and associate deputy director | BANKINTER
General counsel, corporate and board secretary | Secuoya Content Group
Director of the legal advisory's coordination and control area | FCC
Chief legal officer and vice-secretary of the board of directors | Gestamp
Secretary‑general and secretary to the board | Grupo Nortegas
Secretary‑general and vice-secretary to the board | Banco Sabadell
General counsel and secretary of the board of directors | Hispasat
Chief legal officer and secretary of the board of directors | PREMIUMFIBER
General counsel and board secretary | Centros Comericales Carrefour
Head of legal IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel | International Business Machines
General counsel | Aena Desarrollo Internacional
Head of elgal of energy parks and exploration and production | Moeve
General counsel and head of corporate affairs | Cubico Sustainable Investments
General counsel and secretary to the board | Grupo DIA
Senior counsel | Ferrovial Airports (JFK New Terminal One)
Legal, regulatory and institutional affairs for Iberia, Italy and Latin America | Securitas Direct
Legal director - O&M and board secretary | Solarig Energy Services
General counsel and company secretary | Mahou San Miguel
Director legal and compliance and integrity officer and data protection officer | Porsche Ibérica
Head of legal business legal advisory – Trade, working capital, real estate and corporate | CaixaBank
Executive vice president and assurance and secretrary to the board | Moeve
Director of legal services | Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)
Vice president and deputy general counsel - chief of staff to the general counsel | HPE
General counsel Spain and head of legal for international sales | ArcelorMittal
Vice president, assistant general counsel IBM Europe | International Business Machines
General secretary and secretary to the board of directors | Redeia / Red Eléctrica de España
General counsel and company secretary | Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahía de Cádiz
Chief legal officer and general counsel, vice-secretary (non-member) | Almirall
Director of legal affairs and corporate governance | El Corte Inglés
Head of legal Spain and Latin America | Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF)
Director of legal affairs | LaLiga (Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional)
Director of board secretariat and compliance | Navantia
General counsel, compliance director and deputy company secretary | PROSEGUR
Group corporate and business legal affairs director | Cellnex
Secretary general and secretary of the board | Telefónica
Head of legal and regulatory affairs | OUIGO Spain
Director of legal affairs and secretary to the board | Iberia
General secretary and secretary to the board | Iberdrola
It is an honour for Legal 500 to present the GC Powerlist Spain 2026, a testament to the hard work of all our honourees in driving and promoting an innovative in-house legal market in Spain, particularly in a year marked by significant challenges.
Across our conversations, a clear shift emerged in how in-house counsel understand their role. Increasingly, they are moving beyond the traditional remit of risk management and positioning themselves as active contributors to business strategy, in line with broader international trends shaping the profession.
For many of the leaders featured in this edition, legal has become inseparable from strategy. María de los Reyes Escrig, of Aena, described the legal function as a “strategic enabler” of international growth, pointing to the legal team’s role in structuring complex acquisitions while balancing geopolitical, governance and regulatory considerations across jurisdictions.
This increasingly strategic identity was also reflected in some of Spain’s largest and most internationally active companies. At Banco Santander, Javier Illescas’ concept of “One Global Legal Team” captures an ambition many participants shared in building legal functions that are operationally sophisticated, globally aligned and deeply embedded in business execution.
Transformation through technology was another defining thread throughout our research process, though often framed with notable pragmatism. Rather than speaking about innovation in abstract terms, participants focused on implementation. Lidia Peyrona, of IBM, spoke of legal as both partner to the business and “client zero” for AI adoption, while Andrea Viale, at idealista, described a legal team using AI not as experimentation, but as a practical tool to reduce administrative burden and elevate higher-value work. What united these perspectives was a shared conviction that technology is meaningful when it strengthens judgement and allows legal teams to operate more strategically.
Infrastructure, energy, finance and technology leaders also returned repeatedly to resilience in uncertainty. At Cintra, Cristina Álvarez reflected that in crisis “the legal function earns its strategic role by combining speed with rigour”, while Susana Guerrero, of Mahou San Miguel, spoke of the need for legal teams to operate with greater anticipation and flexibility in response to geopolitical instability.
Another strong theme was governance as a driver of value with participants consistently framing governance, compliance and sustainability not as parallel obligations, but as embedded components of strategy. Carlos López Martín de Blas at Secuoya spoke compellingly about linking sustainability, financing and business growth through an innovative legal framework, while others similarly described legal functions operating at the intersection of growth, accountability and long-term resilience.
Just as notable, however, was the emphasis many participants placed on leadership itself with several general counsel speaking of leadership less in hierarchical terms and more in terms of enabling teams, fostering culture and leading through complexity with integrity.
Taken together, these perspectives portray a Spanish in-house legal community that is strategically minded, innovation-focused and increasingly influential, often serving as a bridge between European and Latin American markets. The leaders recognised in this 2026 edition of the GC Powerlist Spain reflect the strength and maturity of in-house legal excellence in the country, while also helping shape its future through vision, adaptability and leadership.
We would like to congratulate the 2026 cohort and thank them for their openness and generosity throughout our research process. It has been a real privilege to share your perspectives and showcase your achievements over the past year.
Enhorabuena y muchas gracias!
Carmen Godoy Martin
Lead Researcher, GC Powerlist Spain 2026
The recent news that elite US firm Sullivan & Cromwell had apologised to a judge over AI hallucinations in a court filing prompted a collective wince from the legal profession.
But while some lawyers remain wary of AI, others are striking a more open-minded note, and at the LexisNexis AI Forum hosted this Wednesday (20 May) by Legal 500 and Legal Business, panelists argued that the risks are far outweighed by the opportunities.
Barbara Zapisetskaya, principal technology counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, made the case that hallucinations and other potential pitfalls can be overcome with a shift in mindset.
‘What makes a difference,’ she said, ‘is empowering your lawyers to take responsibility for AI output – helping them become active AI operators, not just passive AI users. You have agency to decide whether you agree with the output or not.’
Zapisetskaya was among a line-up of leading in-house figures speaking on two panels, which covered everything from practical steps for AI implementation to the key decisions GCs need to be making in the coming months.
Financial Times general counsel Dan Guilford began by stressing the importance of building the right culture for AI adoption. In addition to proactively upskilling himself, Guilford talked about how he had implemented a voluntary weekly ‘show and tell’ meeting for team members to share successful use cases – or an exercise that became a gratifying measure of progress.
Other panelists discussed how increased in-house productivity is altering the dynamic with their external counsel.
While some see the use of AI by law firms as a precursor for reduced fees, Russell Davies, head of global operations for legal and compliance at Dentsu, said that faster results – however they are delivered – are something to be valued.
GSK assistant general counsel Anthony Kenny agreed, saying that while there was an expectation that external counsel would be utilising AI, the focus should be on the value of the output, rather than an overemphasis on identifying AI use as a justification to reduce fees.
Speaking on the second panel, MUFG EMEA general counsel James Morgan stressed the critical importance of education, noting that educating the C-suite on the advantages and risks of AI is just as important as enabling large in-house teams to use these tools.
Shanthini Satyendra, vice-chair of the AI Committee, Society for Computers & Law, CEO and founder of Manisain, offered a reminder of the importance of making the connection between tasks and the purpose behind them, extolling the virtues of identifying use cases for AI that can solve a meaningful problem.
Zapisetskaya concurred, adding that one of the most important tasks for GCs across the next six to twelve months is to create AI playbooks and templates, noting that ‘it is easy for lawyers to see problems – much harder for lawyers to see opportunities.’
There was also broad agreement among panellists that GCs should focus on upskilling their junior lawyers on AI, rather than – as some may expect – cutting back their workforce. As Satyendra summarised: ‘Some people are replacing human capital with AI without thinking about what’s required to make AI work. Retain your people and train them up.’
The panels were moderated by Emma Millington, head of the UK Lexis+ Finance Group, and LexisNexis director of segment management Stuart Greenhill.
