Antonio Huertas Mejías, Mapfre group executive chairman, has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Salamanca in recognition of his professional career and his efforts to promote insurance as a driver of economic development and social cohesion, particularly in Ibero-America. 

The ceremony was part of this year’s events marking the 500th anniversary of the School of Salamanca, which traces its origins to 1526, when Francisco de Vitoria arrived at the university to take up the Chair of Prime Theology. The University of Salamanca also awarded honorary doctorates as part of the same ceremony to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and, posthumously, to Francisco de Vitoria himself, regarded as the inspiration and intellectual leader of the humanist movement associated with the Salamancan scholastics. 

Huertas, who earned his law degree from the University of Salamanca, is chairman of Alumni, the university’s alumni association. 

Speaking at the academic ceremony, Huertas said education, economic ethics, and risk management are essential to building fairer, more prosperous societies. He also emphasized the School of Salamanca’s intellectual legacy and its relevance to today’s social and economic challenges. 

“Insurance is not just a financial product; it’s the most sophisticated private exercise in solidarity ever created by mankind,” Huertas said. He described insurance as “a social shield that reduces people’s vulnerability and enables them to look to the future with greater certainty.” 

Insurance as a response to uncertainty 

Huertas identified uncertainty as one of the main barriers to development, particularly in regions with high levels of economic informality, where people are especially vulnerable. He pointed to insurance as a way to pool risk, support investment and savings, and contribute to social stability. 

He also warned of the insurance protection gap in Ibero-America, which Mapfre Economics estimates at more than 315 billion dollars. This gap, he said, limits the growth of a broad middle class and leaves millions of families and small businesses more exposed to illness, accidents, and natural disasters. 

The School of Salamanca and the ethical roots of modern insurance 

Huertas traced the origins of modern insurance to late 15th-century Spain. Insurance practice was institutionalized through the Consulate of Burgos, created by decree of the Catholic Monarchs in 1494, while the School of Salamanca developed the doctrine that gave insurance the ethical and economic foundations that continue to support its legitimacy today. 

Salamancan thinkers such as Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto, Martín de Azpilcueta, and Luis de Molina—most of whom were educated at the University of Salamanca—laid the groundwork for an ethical and distributive economy oriented toward the common good. Their ideas on fair prices, fairness in contracts, and the lawfulness of organized risk pooling, clearly distinguished from lending and usury, are among the founding principles on which modern insurance rests as a tool for social cohesion and protection. 

Mapfre’s long-standing commitment to Ibero-America 

During the ceremony, Huertas highlighted Mapfre’s long-standing commitment to Ibero-America, where the group has had a continuous presence for more than four decades and is a leading player in the insurance industry. He noted that Mapfre’s international growth has always been guided by a responsible business model: financially strong, ethically grounded, and close to its customers. 

“There can be no free, cohesive, and prosperous society if people live trapped by fear of uncertainty,” he said. 

Huertas also emphasized Fundación Mapfre’s work across the region, where it runs financial education, road safety, health prevention, social action, and support programs for vulnerable groups. 

Five strategic proposals for Ibero-America 

Huertas closed his speech by setting out five areas for action to promote greater social prosperity in Ibero-America and honor the moral mandate of the School of Salamanca: quality education as a basic right; protection against natural disasters and support for the climate transition; digital inclusion; insurance as a gateway to the formal economy; and preparation for the unprecedented pace of demographic aging now underway in the region.  

Access the full speech here.