This morning we were reading about the rise Mercadona has made in the global distribution ‘top 50’, overtaking El Corte Inglés. Overall, it has climbed 8 places—no small feat! We can already see that the crisis is benefiting some companies, which we are pleased about; at least wealth is being redistributed, and we are proud that it is a Spanish company.

Mercadona has already managed to place itself at number 38, three positions ahead of El Corte Inglés, according to the 2010 edition of the ‘Global Powers of Retailing’ study.

Only El Corte Inglés and Mercadona are the only Spanish companies featured in the ‘top 50’ of a ranking of the 250 largest companies in the world, compiled based on retail sales in fiscal year 2008. The good news is that it also includes the presence of the textile giant Inditex (Madrid: ITX.MC – news) (54th) and the Eroski group (76th).

The news is that, for the first time since its beginnings, Mercadona has been able to overtake El Corte Inglés, which also drops one place compared to last year’s edition and stands at 41. But let us not lose sight of the fact that it would still be ahead of the supermarket chain if the ‘ranking’ were ordered by profits or by turnover.

Of course. The third Spanish company to appear in the ranking is the textile giant Inditex, which advances considerably, moving from 65th to 54th, ahead of GAP (55th) and H&M (60th). For its part, Eroski climbs 14 places and reaches position 76 on the list.

In addition, the group chaired by Amancio Ortega holds fifth place in the global fashion distribution ‘ranking’, where it stands as the leading European group. Meanwhile, El Corte Inglés holds fourth place worldwide in the multiproduct distribution ranking, while Mercadona and Eroski hold 15th and 25th place, respectively, in the supermarket category.

I encourage everyone, from here, to continue concentrating our purchases on Spanish companies, regardless of which province they are from; it is good for everyone.