Jan 19, 2026
3 min read
The new Telefónica was launched under a presidential mandate, committed to promoting a strategic turning point that will place the telecommunications company in the race for major mergers in the sector and elevate it to the category of European giant.
The year of the "Murtra revolution" at Telefónica
The new Telefónica was launched under a president's mandate to push forward a strategic transformation that will put the telecommunications company in contention for the biggest merger in the sector and elevate it to a European giant.
A new plan for the future, an almost complete management renewal, "iron financial discipline" with dividend cuts and ERE with 5,500 layoffs and an exit from Latin America, the milestones of a year in which the telco suffers again on the stock market
The change came as a surprise, over the weekend and in just 24 hours.The government, which returned to ownership of Telefónica just months before and a quarter of a century after its full privatization, supported a change in the company's leadership.Produced by Moncloa, but with the approval of the other main shareholders, CriteriaCaiza and Saudi Arabia (the three of them, each owning almost 10% of the capital), this led to the dismissal of José María Álvarez-Pallete and the election of Marc Murtra as new president, who until then had served as head of the PI group, management and national defense.The new leadership then received support and approval with the support of more than 90% of meeting member partners.It's time for change.
A year after that tumultuous weekend, Moretra led Telefónica to usher in a new phase, a new era, at a key moment for the company and for the telecommunications sector in general.With a long-term vision that seeks to position Telefónica as a European giant in a sector that is preparing for major movements, its establishment was accompanied by a revolution at the top of the group (with Emilio Gay as the new CEO and Juan Azcua as the new "number three" in charge of finance) and a complete renewal of all the subsidiary business divisions and almost all the major business divisions.
The new President, who is almost entirely new to the group, promises a strategic change that will prepare the company for future changes in telecommunications and technology businesses at the time of economic and geopolitical and fateful. The result was a new strategic plan for the next five years, called "Transformation and growth" as a statement of intent.A real leader in a European telecommunications industry is on the verge of a wave of merger and procurement, playing an increasing role in high-tech and cyber security at the center of a general "prosperity" in the defense sector.
The new plan includes "painful" measures (the group agreed to ERE, which will lead to the departure of 5,500 employees in Spain) and "difficult" measures for shareholders (with a sharp cut in the dividend).The new telephony promises "iron financial discipline" and makes short-term sacrifices to simplify the group, achieve agility and be more efficient.The goal is to ensure organic growth, first and then ready for consolidation in the sector.creature
"euro, euro, euro"
During this year, Murtra passionately defended the need for concentration of telecommunications companies, first within each country, including Spain, and then at European level.It is a process in which the executive promises "ambition" for the new Telefónica and in which he expects to play an active role.The president himself acknowledged that talks in all of his major markets (Spain, Britain, Germany and Brazil) are preliminary steps toward a possible corporate move.A pool of Spanish markets has identified Vodafone Spain, currently controlled by British group Zegon, as a key merger or purchase candidate.
The European Union is agreeing that it is necessary to protect its strategic independence in key economic sectors - telecommunications and technologies - among them - to reduce its dependence on the United States and China and to prevent a permanent loss of competitiveness against global powers.To achieve this independence, investments of millions of dollars will be needed to build our own technologies, and this can only be done by large business groups, merging in certain sectors such as telecommunications.will emerge only through movements.
Telefónica wants to contribute to Europe's strategic autonomy in this way and play an important role in future corporate movements.With this goal, Murtra joins the chorus of chief executives of the sector to request regulatory changes from the European Union, which would allow the consolidation of the telecommunications sector, which is very fragmented in relation to other international markets.
Murtra has pledged to make the new telephonica a priority of "Europe, Europe and Europe", Germany tradial markets of Spain, Germany, but also on another key market such as Brazil.The priority includes completing the exit process of other Latin American markets, which will reduce the risks of exposure to a complex area and support the operational simplification of the group.
Telefónica has accelerated its exit plans to the max in recent months, with the group's president confirming his intention to complete the sales process in Latin America.After selling its subsidiaries in Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Colombia, the company plans to continue the process and sell its final holdings in Chile, Mexico and Venezuela, although the current situation of uncertainty makes it difficult to immediately operate in the Caribbean country.
While the company is waiting to continue its operations (buying for growth and diving to focus on geography), the company is fighting for organic growth and demonstrating business strength in key markets, especially Spain and Brazil, as well as new dynamism to acquire customers.In the case of Telefónica Spain's business, the fastest growing and most contributing partner, the club has taken strategic steps to strengthen its commercial offering with long-term agreements that retain the rights to LaLiga and the Champions League for a long time.
Brake in the bag
Telefónica's share price has long been one of the group's biggest stumbling blocks after years of poor returns.The telecommunications company became the largest by value in the Spanish stock market (today it is fourteenth) and became the first company to have a capitalization of over 100 billion euros (it is now around 19 billion).Shares rose for much of Murtra's first year, but fell again after the strategic plan was unveiled.
Shares in Telefónica were trading at € 3.97 when Murtra was elected, have risen close to € 5 in the month, but now stand at € 3.3 per share (down 16% in twelve months) after the fall that accompanied the new plan that included negative measures for investors, such as the budget from the cut of the income from the income.company.
The president of Telefónica adapts to the fall of the stock market."He knows that the market is not always right or, sometimes, he doesn't know how to see what's coming," said Murtra in a recent communication with the employees.
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