“We want more Piqué”, that was the sentiment that brought together almost two hundred politicians, diplomats and businessmen this Wednesday around the figure of the late Josep Piqué in an act organized by the La Toja Forum, one of his many legacies, in the Eurostarts Mirasierra hotel in Madrid.
The sentence pronounced by the governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, synthesized the more than four hours of event in which the widow, Gloria Romana, and her children were present, and through which some personalities from the Popular Party paraded, party of whose governments he was a part of during his time as a politician, such as Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría or Fátima Bañez. The former president, José María Aznar, and the current leader of the opposition, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo joined the tribute through a video recorded.
Humanist, modernizer, man of consensus and a great seeker of agreements were some of the adjectives with which friends and collaborators described him. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, thanked Josep Piqué for his support since he took office to such an extent that the two managed to forge a friendship “based on the utmost respect for political differences,” he said.
Albares recalled Piqué’s strategic vision by pointing out one of the main lessons for the former minister’s foreign policy. “The importance of the Strait of Malacca” or what other participants would later call “the Malacca club”. A place on the globe that Piqué pointed out as the center of the world for years, influencing a visionary need to balance the weight between the dominant West of the 20th century and the strength of the East in the 21st century.
The vast wisdom of the politician and businessman was lauded as his conciliatory profile in the teams and as a “great statesman” and passionate about defending democratic interests. That was the spirit that led him to found, together with Amancio López Seijas, the forum that this Wednesday paid tribute to him. “Everything arose from some dinners that we organized to talk about international issues between businessmen from Madrid and Barcelona,” recalled his partner López Seijas. “Democracy does not defend itself, it must be protected,” recalled his partner who Piqué used as an argument to open those conversations to society and turn it into the current Forum.
Very heartfelt was the memory that his friend Antonio Garamendi, president of the CEOE, gave him. “A good man who changed all of our lives,” he said.
Former Foreign Ministers, such as Abel Matutes, Trinidad Jiménez, Alfonso Dastis or Arancha González Laya and the former Minister of Industry, Ana Birulés, participated in the event. As well as his colleagues in the private company Ángeles Delgado, president of Fujitsu Spain, Alex Cruz, with whom he worked at Vueling, and Antonio Huertas, president of Mapfre, a company in which he was a director.
