Cristina Cabañas has a degree in pharmacy and currently chairs Guitart Hotels and the Climent Guitart Foundation. He is a restless and active person with a tireless will to help others. This has led him to collaborate with a large number of social entities from different fields and, for a few months, he has also been part of the Advisory Board of the Fundació Ajuda i Esperança. We talk to her to review her career and soak up her vitality and altruistic vocation.
You already collaborate with many entities, what motivated you to do it with the Fundació Ajuda i Esperança?
I met one of the patrons of the Foundation, Mireia del Pozo, because she interviewed me in her program Plusvàlua Dones. She explained to me the project of the Fundació Ajuda i Esperança, informed me of the creation of the Advisory Council and suggested that I collaborate with it.
It is quite difficult for me to say no to a social entity, but now I have to look at it a lot because I am already in many places. However, I saw that it was a very powerful advisory board with a very diverse composition, as we are people from very different fields, and I am sure that we can do a good job.
Also, I think you do a priceless job. During the pandemic your role has been crucial, because you have been by the side of the people who suffered the most in such a difficult time. And also now, with all the problems that have arisen from the subsequent economic and emotional crisis.
"I really like a phrase from Sister Lucía that she says the first thing you have to do in life is think: what do you have?"
How was the evolution of your career in the social field: from the first steps to the creation of the Climent Guitart Foundation?
When I was in the world of pharmacy, I started collaborating with the AECC Associació Catalana Contra el Càncer, as a member of the local board of Lloret de Mar, where I have now been the vice president for almost 18 years. In addition, when Climent, my husband, was still alive, we already organized events for the AECC in our hotels, among other things, because we saw that we had many tools at hand to help others.
I really like a phrase from Sister Lucía that says, "the first thing you have to do in life is think: what do you have?". And we have hotels, we belong to the culture of hospitality and we want to make this available to the rest. This is what we have and what we share. That's how I got started.
Then the word spread and I joined other organizations and associations that asked for my collaboration. Besides, Climent had been doing many things for many years, but always anonymously. It was when it was lacking that outsiders encouraged us to create a Foundation to continue helping. And this is how the Climent Guitart Foundation was born in 2018.
"We try that our suppliers are socially responsible companies or from the social environment, but we don't do it for the quota, we do it because we believe in it"
What is your mission?
The Foundation has two very important areas of action: training in tourism and solidarity. Some of our flagship projects try to train people at risk of exclusion in tourism and promote employment, both at Guitart Hotels and at other companies in the tourism sector.
This has even helped us to position ourselves, since in 2019 we received the first award as the hotel company with the best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Spain, awarded by CaixaBank. It was unintentional, because we do it from the heart, but for me this is worth much more than other things.
What do you think should be the role of companies in the social sector?
Businesses can play a crucial and basic role, but they need to be convinced. I believe that CSR must be done from the heart, otherwise it doesn't work. For example, we at Guitart have been trying for a long time for our suppliers to be socially responsible companies or from the social environment, but we don't do it for the quota, we do it because we believe in it.
And as for gender equality?
For me, equality is not about a woman being able to access a job for a mere matter of meeting quotas, but that she must access it because of her personal worth. What I don't accept is that being a woman gives you negative points.
From the International Foundation for Entrepreneurial Women (FIDEM), where I am Patron, a great task is being carried out to make visible women with impressive CVs who are often invisible.
"Volunteering is something that makes my eyes shine"
What have you learned in your career in the social world?
That you can never know what can happen to you or the turns that life can give you. That's why I consider it very important to do everything in our hands. A clear example is my experience when I was on the board of directors of the AECC and the next day I became a user due to my husband's illness.
I have also met wonderful people with whom I share the same way of thinking, people who think of others before themselves.
Volunteering is something that makes my eyes shine. Returning to Sister Lucia's “you have what you have”: I believe that sharing is the most beautiful way to love others. If not, what do you leave behind when you leave? Yes, you can leave perhaps an apartment or other material things, but if you have helped many people, that is indeed an important footprint that you leave on your path.