Sonia Ortega, a SPAR Gran Canaria retailer, has received the regional CaixaBank 2022 Women Entrepreneur Award. This recognises her commitment to promoting an innovative and entrepreneurial culture in the face of a changing business landscape. The Award acknowledges the talent and professional excellence of businesswomen in Spain and promotes networking of leading businesswomen around the world.

The Award recognises Sonia Ortega’s 20 years of experience and her leadership, strategic and innovative vision. The family business is now managed by Sonia and her sister Noelia, supported by their teams. Their six supermarkets have become a benchmark in the food distribution sector in the southeast of Gran Canaria.

Sonia and Noelia Ortega’s father, Francisco, was granted a licence to operate as a SPAR independent retailer in 1983. Today, the family operate six SPAR Supermarkets, creating employment for 127 team members. This team work together to ensure the whole business operates efficiently.

The Ortega’s latest store, located on San Nicolás de Bari in Sardina del Sur, was opened in April 2022. The 300m² SPAR Supermarket offers fresh local ‘KM. 0’ fruit and vegetables, good meat and delicatessen areas, as well as ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat meals. Destination departments for local consumers are its freshly baked bread and pastry sections. An attractive cafe integrated into the store is also a destination department.

SPAR Gran Canaria now operates 17 outlets in the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana and has a total of 197 shops on the island of Gran Canaria.

The CaixaBank Women in Business Awards foster business excellence and the promotion of equality of opportunities and diversity. After the regional awards are concluded, a jury will choose the national winner, who will be one of the Spanish representatives in the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge ( IWEC) awards.

Source: SPAR Gran Canaria

Read more about SPAR in Spain.

About SPAR Spain

SPAR Spain was founded in 1959 when a group of wholesalers who wished to join an international organisation came together. As a result, the brand became the first voluntary trading chain to be established in Spain. 

 The head office is in Barcelona. It provides buying, marketing, communications, and brand support to the 13 regional partners. Together, the SPAR operators actively continue the expansion of the brand across the country.