We are who we are when we exist in the gaze of the other. "We all have a fundamental need in life: to be recognized. We need the gaze of the other to recognize ourselves." This reflection was made this Monday, October 13, at the Teatre Principal de Terrassa by the founder and current honorary president of La Fageda, Cristóbal Colón, while he was recognized by the employers' association Cecot as Personality of 2025, on one of the most important nights of the year for the Catalan business fabric: Cecot's Nit de l'Empresa. An evening where the employers' association, executives, and institutional representatives gathered to recognize (and look at) the effort of many entrepreneurs: "Doing business is never an easy path." Of course, there were also reprimands from Xavier Panés, businessman and president of the employers' association.
These words from Colón, about the gaze of the other and recognition, have a special meaning on nights like Cecot's —which, by the way, was celebrating its 30th edition—: the award winners, institutional representatives, and some sponsors are seated on stage, waiting for their turn, throughout the gala. And the audience looks at them. They recognize them. Among the audience are two former presidents of Catalonia: Artur Mas and Pere Aragonès.
On stage, as part of the staging, are Xavier Panés and Cristóbal Colón, as well as the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull; the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper; Jordi Ballart, mayor of Terrassa; Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the Consortium of the Free Zone of Barcelona; José Alberto Carbonell, president of the Port of Barcelona; Marta Raventós, president of the Cecot Circle of Young Entrepreneurs; and other executives, representatives of entities and of the awarded companies. There are more than 28 people on stage.
And who is not there, but should have been? The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, and Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat, who excused himself due to DANA in the Terres de l'Ebre.
The recovery of lost dignity
In a theater that "has become too small for them," so full that two adjoining rooms were set up to follow the event, attendees recognized with an especially long—and emotional—applause the trajectory of Cristóbal Colón at the helm of La Fageda and his work to dignify the lives of people in vulnerable situations through dignified and meaningful work. Because for Colón, "the meaning of work is work with meaning," and that is based on three conditions: "that it allows us to earn a living, that it helps us develop our capacities and that it makes us feel that we are part of something superior to ourselves."
A psychologist by training, Colón promoted more than forty years ago a project that revolutionized the social and labor integration of people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness in La Garrotxa. Now we see it in the form of yogurts, ice creams, and jams, but the beginnings of La Fageda, "a crazy project," began in 1982 with jobs commissioned by other companies and gardening tasks. Convinced that work could be a transformative tool, Colón created La Fageda with 15 people, most of them from the psychiatric hospital of Salt. "I wanted them to recover, through work, the dignity they had lost," Colón affirmed. Today, the benchmark social economy cooperative has more than 600 workers.
"The adventure can be crazy, but those who must be sane are the adventurers." Or put another way, by Colón himself: "We came from madness and the only thing that could save us was sanity," and a very clear premise: not to return to the asylum.
His story at the helm of La Fageda is a case of business and human success, which reminds us that success cannot be reduced to economic benefits and market shares, "that it is not measured in euros, but in the improvement of people's lives." And a reminder for the entrepreneurs present: "The company must continue to be one of the great builders of society."
The welfare society, at risk
Well aligned with this philosophy, Panés has highlighted the path of "doing business" and valued "the community", but has wanted to take advantage of the platform to share —as usual— his "recipe for generating progress and shared wealth", with a message of responsibility and alert: "The welfare society is at risk. In Catalonia, in Spain and in Europe".
Xavier Panés: "There is no ideology here. It's pure arithmetic"
The aging of the population, massive retirements and the increase in the dependency ratio cast doubt, according to Panés, on the viability of the current model. In Spain, in fact, the group of people who retire each year is larger than that of young people aged 25 who enter the labor market. And this "demographic trap" of non-renewal will be even more accentuated in the coming years.
In fact, the dependency ratio (which calculates the proportion of the population over 65 years of age compared to those aged 25-64) is currently 36%, which means that for every retiree there are 2.6 people of working age. And demographic forecasts indicate that it will reach 61% in 2050, that is, only 1.6 people. What will this scenario cause? A fall in state tax revenues and an increase in public spending. That is, "a situation of unsustainability of public finances, if we do nothing".
"There is no ideology here —Panés states emphatically—. It's pure arithmetic", although he does drop some political reproach in his speech: "This should be the order: improve the productivity and the capacity to generate wealth of small and medium-sized companies to be able to distribute it, and not as the Minister of Labor intends, who is determined to stifle companies with measures that hinder our viability and promote the culture of non-work". And, again, a non-protocolary and sincere applause erupts among the audience.
In fact, Panés has criticized "unilateral measures that invade social dialogue, such as the failed attempt to reduce the working day through the back door", and has provided his recipe: improve productivity; "activate contributing workers"; fight against "unbridled absenteeism", the underground economy and the trickery of some who abuse a system of social benefits; create a fiscal framework and investment incentives; reduce bureaucracy, simplify administration and modernize public administration; improve migration policy and expand and modernize service infrastructures to accommodate population growth.
To achieve this, he urged action and sent a strong message: "Companies are an indispensable part of the solution, and not the enemy to be fought as some disoriented radicals proclaim".
Without directly answering each of the questions, the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, extended his hand, admitting the veracity of the exposed photograph about "the situation that Catalonia, Spain and Europe are experiencing", and putting himself "at the disposal" of the employers' association and the company. How? "With public-private collaboration, in capital letters".
Now yes, recognition in the other's gaze
And, indeed, this was the night to recognize them: the Business Progress Awards went to, in the field of sustainability, the historic Barcelona company Piera Ecoceràmica; in the category of digital transformation for industry, the award went to Siverus, based in Vallirana; and in the field of services, Cecot recognized Dexeus Dona, after promoting a digitalization process to improve care and relationship with its patients. Creativity also had a prize, with GrandesZapatos; and the gaze set on the future was represented by the Barcelona spin-off Lumiris Spectral Solutions.
In addition, the primary care team EAP Sardenya was distinguished as a responsible SME, and Silgan Dispensing Systems Barcelona was awarded for its prevention and occupational well-being policies. Beyond the awarded companies, Cecot wanted to highlight associativism with the recognition of the Gremi de Ferreteria de Catalunya and the Unió de Botiguers de Reus.
And the recognition for the centenary companies went to the Il·lustre Col·legi de Graduats Socials, Vicente Torns, Coma y Ribas and GuinotPrunera; business stories that remind us —as the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull, well mentioned in his speech— that "together we can achieve what seems impossible". And even more so if we have examples like those of La Fageda.