Venezuela meant a lot to the great Spanish company at the turn of the century. Not so long ago it was the country in South America with the most Inditex stores, the most profitable territory on the continent for Telefónica or where Repsol started its large international oil extraction business in the 1990s. The major brands of the national economy took positions in the market with greater expectations from the area thanks to its enormous oil reserves. There the bet remained: in a potential investment without returns. The rise of Hugo Chávez to power in 1999 and the series of measures taken since then paralyzed investment efforts in the following years and, with the continuity of Bolivarian policies by Nicolás Maduro, a gradual withdrawal was promoted and, often, forced by direct mandate from the Government. Venezuela, where a period of uncertainty is now opening up that can change the entire economic situation, went from being a priority destination to the big business that it never could be.
Repsol is the Spanish company that Venezuela continues to be more exposed. Also the one most interested in defending its current position after the United States attack and the capture of Nicolás Maduro. The oil company has, essentially, two assets. On the one hand, it exploits a natural gas well in alliance with the Italian company Eni; and on the other, it maintains an agreement with the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, for the extraction of oil, which has been its main source of problems. The energy company has an equity exposure in Venezuela of 330 million euros, with overdue debts with the state oil company PDVSA of 359, which until now it paid with crude oil deliveries that in turn were suspended in March after Trump withdrew the Spanish company’s permission to export crude oil from Venezuela. Repsol, present in the country since 1993, is looking for formulas to reactivate deliveries, although its main activity continues to be linked to natural gas, which represents 85% of the total business.
Regarding banking, BBVA is the only Spanish entity that is present in the country. It owns 55.2% of BBVA Provincial, the largest private bank in the country, with a loan share of 24%, only below Banco de Venezuela, which is public. It has more than 3 million customers, of which 2.7 million are retailers. It also has 2,000 employees and a total of 168 offices. According to the accounts for the first half of the year, the subsidiary in that country recorded losses before taxes of 36 million. A bank spokesperson indicated that all branches opened normally this Monday. Both BBVA and Mapfre, the other large financial company with interests in the area and 360 workers on the payroll at the end of 2024, specified that they have already implemented continuity plans to guarantee the provision of services in the country. The insurer does not detail its numbers in Venezuela, since it integrates them into its business in South America in general.
An exit for Telefónica
The recent fall of the Bolivarian regime could come at a good time for another glossy name on the Ibex 35. This is the case of Telefónica, for which a change in the political landscape could facilitate its long-awaited departure from the country, but it does not guarantee that the process will be simple or immediate. After years of uncertainty, the company’s president, Marc Murtra, confirmed on November 4 —during the presentation of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan— the firm will of the operator to abandon its assets in Venezuela, along with those in Mexico and Chile, with the aim of simplifying its structure and recovering, to the extent possible, the investment made in the region. The Spanish operator has nine million customers in the country and dominates 42% of the mobile telephone market, with a testimonial presence in fixed broadband.
Telefónica landed in Venezuela in 2004 after the ambitious purchase of Bellsouth subsidiaries for more than 4.7 billion euros. At that time, the acquisition of Telcel involved an estimated outlay of 800 million euros, making the Venezuelan subsidiary one of the most profitable in the group. However, the arrival of restrictive measures under the mandate of Hugo Chávez, exchange controls and the subsequent hyperinflation under the Maduro regime dynamited the profitability of the business. Since 2017, Telefónica stopped breaking down the results of its Venezuelan subsidiary due to the volatility of the bolivar and the difficulties in repatriating profits, which resulted in a constant depreciation of assets and million-dollar losses which now the company seeks to permanently stop.
The Spanish multinational faces significant regulatory obstacles. The main obstacle is the Organic Telecommunications Law, which grants the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) the power to veto any sale invoking “public interest” or “national security.” Furthermore, both the licenses and the use of the radio spectrum are non-transferable without prior and express permission from the regulator. In addition, the lack of number portability in Venezuela – the system that allows you to change operators while keeping the number – will force the transaction to be extremely orderly so as not to harm Movistar’s nine million customers.
Another important financial challenge is the commitment of investment of 500 million dollars for the deployment of the 5G network, assumed by Telefónica at the beginning of 2025. Any potential buyer must be willing to inherit this investment burden in a country that has yet to rebuild much of its basic infrastructure.
In this context, three main scenarios for the sale are considered. The first would be the merger with the state-owned CANTV/Movilnet, which already dominates fixed broadband, and whose entry into the mobile sector would create a giant with a 65% market share, which could raise competition problems. The second alternative is an agreement with Digitel, the Cisneros Group company, which appears as a natural candidate, although its integration would also concentrate a large part of the mobile market (amounting to 77.7%). Finally, an agreement with foreign investors is not ruled out, such as the Luxembourg-based Millicom (Tigo), which has already acquired Telefónica operations in other countries in the region, and who could see a strategic opportunity in the new Venezuela, although country risk continues to be a deterrent factor.
Inditex’s big bet in South America
Another large Spanish company that saw a great business opportunity in Venezuela was Inditex. It was its great market in South America at the beginning of the century. In 2001, the Galician giant made the oceanic leap and went from having four to 20 points of sale there. It was the eighth world market with the largest number of establishments, and the first in South America. In addition, it landed with almost all its brands: Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti and, a year later, with Oysho.
Colombia, which today is the first South American country for Inditex by physical presence, did not have any stores at that time, and Brazil only had 7. Between 2003 and 2015, Inditex maintained a stable network in Venezuela of around 25 stores, a figure that dropped to 19 in 2019, the last year before deciding to withdraw.
It returned to the country at the beginning of 2024, and today it has four stores, all in Caracas and managed by a franchise partner, Grupo Futura, which also works with Mango and Tendam, owner of Cortefiel or Women’s Secret, with several points of sale on Venezuelan soil.
Low incidence of tourism
Hotel companies have a marginal presence in Venezuela compared to other countries in the region, such as Mexico, where The Mallorcan companies RIU and Barceló have 23 and 22 assets, respectively. Currently, the chain that has the most hotels is Hesperia, with five assets, followed by Meliá, with one five-star property. Hesperia has been operating in Venezuela for 20 years and has two hotels on Isla Margarita, and one in Maracay, Morrocoy and Valencia, according to reports Carlos Molina. In statements reported by Europa Press, Enrique Castro, general director of Hesperia World America, the manager in the Latin American country, announced in July that the chain was going to add its sixth asset in the city of Barquisimeto at the end of 2025, although it does not yet appear in the group’s offer. For its part, Meliá has operated the Gran Meliá Caracas, a five-star luxury hotel, since the late 1990s, which continues to operate without incident.
Given the escalation of war tension between the United States and Venezuela, already visible at the end of December, airlines operating between Spain and Venezuela chose to extend the suspension of flights that they had planned until the end of 2025 and not operate again until at least January 31, 2026. following the recommendations of the Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) and ignoring Maduro’s threat to withdraw their licenses if they did not resume operations. Both Iberia, Air Europa and Plus Ultra, the three that carry out the most flights from Spain, will not cover frequencies with Venezuela again, at least until January 31, as have other foreign companies such as the Portuguese TAP, the Colombian Avianca or the Brazilian Gol.
Of course, Plus Ultra has opted for an indirect tactic and has reinforced its route between Madrid and the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias, going from three to six weekly flights in response to the increase in demand registered in the last quarter of 2025, since the airline offers passengers a connection to Caracas together with the Laser airline.
