The King's 25 Properties: Measures for Private Healthcare in the Balearic Islands

CitadelVíctor Madera Núñez (Oviedo, 1961) has been the talk of the town for several years now. The president of Quirón has become the leading magnate of private healthcare in Spain, benefiting from urban development plans to build a private hospital in Madrid as much as he salvages castles, mansions, and estates from ruins across the country. From his native Asturias to the Balearic Islands, where he has already acquired dozens of properties over the last decade. Madera, considered the main landowner in Menorca, has transformed himself into a real estate tycoon since, nine years ago, he sold Quirón Salud, the largest private hospital group in Spain, to the German company Fresenius Helios, the largest healthcare group in Europe. The deal was closed for 5.76 billion euros, of which 450 million went directly to the Asturian doctor. Married and a father of four, he has by no means distanced himself from the company, of which he is the non-executive chairman. Quirón currently manages more than 80 hospitals and day centers employing 35,000 people.

He invests a significant portion of his profits in acquiring properties to give a second life to buildings, sites, or farms that would otherwise be abandoned. His first projects took place in 2017 in his home region (Luarca, Llanes, Oviedo, etc.), where he created the company Paisajes de Asturias SL. He also invested in Menorca, where, after establishing the company Encantos de Menorca SL, which he managed in the initial months, he already owns at least 2% of the entire island of Colom and historic buildings, such as the old manor house of Ca n'Squella in Ciutadella. The list also includes, among others, Torre del Ramo, Santa Ana, Son Vivó, Son Vell, Son Ermità, Binidelfà, Tirant Vell, Son Rubí, Huerto del León, and Fontanilles, some of which have been converted into agritourism and restaurants.

In all the Balearic Islands

In fact, several sources count up to 25 properties owned by Madera in the Balearic Islands. Outside of Menorca, transactions have come to light such as Can Jordi in Formentera – where he is developing a private resort – a mansion in the Caló de Real urbanization in San José de Sa Atalaya (Ibiza), Capocorb Nou in Llucmajor, Son Verí in Valldemossa, and the purchase in Palma de Mallorca of the Clínica Planas, the former Rialto cinema, and the former Rial cinema, which the Jesuits have ceded to him for a period of 70 years. This decision has not been without controversy, motivated by the relocation of the educational center to Son Moix, although Madera has announced his intention to convert it into a medicalized residence for the elderly. Now, he has also set his sights on the Levante region of Mallorca, where the Asturian doctor and multimillionaire businessman is reportedly negotiating further real estate acquisitions.

His obsession with acquiring heritage has also extended to other regions, from Asturias (the Trenor Palace in Figueras) to Ciudad Real, where he acquired the Dominican convent, and Extremadura, where he finalized the purchase of four emblematic properties for 80 million euros while giving the opening speech for the local festivities.

A vintage collection

The registered office of the companies that manage most of these properties is located in a luxurious office on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, the city where he usually lives, in a residence in La Moraleja. However, sources consulted place his center of operations in Luxembourg, where his company HCI SA is based. His net worth is estimated at between 600 and 1,000 million euros.

To unite them under a single brand, he created Vestige Collection, the name that distinguishes his selection of hotels and villas throughout the country, as well as abroad, including in northern Namibia. It is characterized by its "architectural identity," but also by the location of each property. In each property, he explains, "we respect both the original structure and character of the building, as well as the natural and historical context in which it was built." But above all, he takes action because he cannot bear to see heritage deteriorate.

In his few public appearances, Víctor Madera makes it clear that he wants to transform destinations, focusing them on tourism, and provide jobs for the local population, as he has already done with the dozens of employees he has in Menorca who handle the daily management of his properties. He also says that he defends social "values" so that they are passed on to new generations and uses a certain philanthropic spirit to justify some of his operations.

He doesn't only invest in lands with which he has had some interaction, but also in those that have some significance for his family, especially for his wife, Maria Obdulia Fernández. Appointed president of Paisajes de Asturias (Landscapes of Asturias), she has found in Madera the ideal husband to pursue her vocation as an art teacher, recognized in her native Oviedo with the gold medal of the Chamber of Commerce.

Privatization, key to his success

Madera's rise is not solely explained by his business career, but also by the context in which the private healthcare sector has grown in Spain. A graduate in Medicine from the University of Oviedo, specializing in traumatology, he began practicing medicine before entering hospital management. During the 1990s, he joined the business project that would eventually become the Quirón hospital group, a company that, over time, would become the leading player in private healthcare in Spain. Its expansion coincided with a period of profound changes in the Spanish healthcare system. Public administrations, especially from the 2000s onward, began to outsource services and collaborate with private operators in the management of hospitals, diagnostic tests, and specialized services. This model of contracting and referrals has been one of the driving forces behind the growth of large hospital groups such as Quirón, Ribera, and HM Hospitals. In this context, Víctor Madera's name has inevitably become associated with the progressive privatization of certain segments of the healthcare system. His detractors maintain that the model benefits large corporations that reap millions in profits from public resources, while his supporters argue that public-private partnerships reduce waiting lists and expand the range of care available. Be that as it may, the sale of Quirón Salud to the German group Fresenius Helios in 2017 symbolized the definitive entry of international capital into the Spanish hospital business. For Madera, that transaction marked a turning point. With hundreds of millions of euros in his pocket, the Asturian doctor began a new chapter as a global investor. Since then, his name has been linked to both healthcare deals and significant real estate and property acquisitions, which, in the Balearic Islands, have made him one of the leading landowners. What began as a medical career had become, in just a few decades, one of the most prominent fortunes linked to the healthcare business in Spain.