Amancio Ortega is the eleventh greatest fortune in the world and, unquestionably, the richest man in Spain thanks to its two lucrative empires: Inditex and Pontegadea. However, in addition to his millionaire business profits, Amancio Ortega has also become popular for your donations.
The millionaire injected 765.4 million into the foundation that bears his nameand donations valued at hundreds of millions of euros were channeled from it. This philanthropy was the center of a debate in which the enormous contribution to the well-being of the beneficiaries was put on the table, but also the fiscal compensations and an exercise of public image washing.
A big jump in contributions. Amancio Ortega made an exceptional contribution to the Amancio Ortega Foundation. According to collected Digital Economythe businessman injected 765.4 million euros in 2025 to finance the entity’s activities until 2028. It is an amount much higher than that contributed in recent years, and marks a turning point in the size of the economic “cushion” with which the foundation works, which in your figures declared an investment in projects of 207.6 million euros in 2024.
This money does not automatically translate into spending in a single year, but it does allow for the foundation’s involvement in larger programs and for a longer period of time. On its website, the foundation itself explains which has 541.8 million euros committed for the period 2025-2029.
Where have those donations gone? An important part of these donations has been channeled towards healthcare, especially in the form of high-tech medical equipment and investments linked to public hospitals. A clear example is the National Hospital for Paraplegics of Toledo, which has received a donation of 11.24 million euros from the Leonese businessman’s foundation to execute up to ten projects related to facilities and works within the center itself.
Without a doubt, the most ambitious project of Amancio Ortega’s foundation is the financing of ten proton therapy devices with a tender of 271 million euros started in 2021 and which will have valid until 2029. This latest technology equipment will be implemented in seven autonomous communities and allows for less invasive treatment of certain types of cancer, especially in cases of childhood cancer and difficult to access.
In addition, the millionaire’s foundation financed the construction of seven new nursing homes in Galicia. For the moment they have built and delivered five of them to the Xunta de Galicia, and the objective is to complete the remaining ones in 2026.
Direct aid in disasters. In 2025, one of the most notable donations was the one linked to the municipalities affected by DANA. It was an aid of 100 million euros, managed through 40 town councils, with the aim of supporting affected families and businesses.
Here the mechanism was different from that used in the medical and socio-health projects. The urgency of the situation meant that, instead of signing an investment agreement with the administrations, the foundation delivered the funds to the different affected municipalities so that they could manage it by purchasing machinery for cleaning or to cover the most urgent needs of its population.
Tax benefits, the darkest side. The other side of the debate focuses on the elephant in the room: donations to foundations have tax incentives, and this case is no exception. No matter how noble the motives behind these donations are, the shadow of interest in reducing your tax bill is evident, although also legal.
In simple terms: whoever makes a donation can deduct part of that contribution from their taxes, with differences depending on whether they are an individual (IRPF) or a company (Corporate Tax). More than 97% of the capital of the Amancio Ortega Foundation comes from the contributions of its founder who, in turn, receives his income from the Inditex dividends and the benefits of Pontegadea.
According to estimates of Publiconly with the financing of the proton therapy equipment, its benefactor obtained a tax benefit of between 108 and 123 million euros, since the legislation allows for tax relief between 35% and 40% of contributions. As Carlos Cruzado, president of the Gestha union of Treasury technicians, pointed out, “the tax benefit is still a public expense.”
The real debate: philanthropy or paying taxes. In some ways, making such a significant donation means forcing the State to spend public money (in the form of uncollected taxes) on the investment. let an individual decide and that may not be strategic.
On the one hand, there is the direct impact: hundreds of millions are put on the table available for social and health projects that might otherwise take longer to arrive. On the other hand, there is the fact that the project where the money is invested It is decided by a private donor, with his or her priorities and interests, not based on criteria of common interest.
For society as a whole, was it more necessary to invest in this latest technology equipment or to hire more medical personnel for primary care? Should large donations be regulated differently to suit the general good, or should the donor’s discretion prevail? These are questions to which Spanish legislation has not yet provided an answer.
Image | GTRES, Unsplash (National Cancer Institute)
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