Javier de Paz resigned as chair of the public enterprise Mercasa in late December. Mr de Paz, who had occupied the position since May 2004, left his post to join the board of directors of Telefónica, the Spanish national telephone company.

In his almost four years in the job, he reinforced the company’s international thrust with projects in South America and Africa and consolidated the guidelines of the public service Mercasa offers the food chain. Furthermore, he engineered agreements to ensure a long life for the wholesale markets, including Mercabarna.

As this issue was put to bed, a new chair had yet to be appointed. For the time being, Ignacio Cruz Roche, director-general of Trade Policy at the Ministry of Industry and vice-chair of Mercasa, will take charge of the company, together with the board of directors.