06 July 2026
Donostia-San Sebastián
On 6 July, the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies – Deusto Business School at the San Sebastian campos of the University of Deusto presented the "Sebastián Iruretagoyena Award for the Best Final Year Project in Business Administration 2025–2026" to the project “Strategic Marketing Plan for Shelter Surf – Salto Foundation” developed by: Ane Alberdi Martín, Naroa Espín Eizmendi, Olatz Lekuona Galarraga and Salma Zubicaray Iribarren, and the "Sebastián Iruretagoyena Award for the Best Final Year Project in Business Administration 2025–2026 for the Best Economic and Financial Analysis to the project “Kubeko: plan de negocio para alquiler de trasteros a particulares” developed by: Martín Eizaguirre Alonso, Oier Goñi Aramburu, Aitor Morgado Gurruchaga, Marc Rossell Fort and Fernando Salgueiro Jalón.
The aim of this award is to recognise and promote the efforts of students currently undertaking their Final Year Project in Business Management and Administration at the San Sebastian campus and to honour Professor Sebastián Iruretagoyena, who played a key role in the training of students, managers and businesspeople in Gipuzkoa and was the first director of this faculty’s Gipuzkoa Executive MBA programme; during his years of teaching, primarily in the areas of accounting, financial analysis and finance, he played a key role in the training of students, managers and business leaders in the Gipuzkoa region.
This award was established by a group of friends of Sebastián Iruretagoyena, a former lecturer at ESTE, and by his family; in 2021, the ALCE Foundation took over the running of the award.
José Juan Ijurko, president of the ALCE Foundation, and David Iruretagoyena, son of Sebastián Iruretagoyena, acknowledged the work carried out by all the finalists and congratulated the winners. According to Asun Ibáñez, Vice-Dean of Deusto Business School at the Donostia-San Sebastian campus, the award aims to highlight the Mission and Values of Deusto Business School (DBS): to educate responsible professionals who are capable of promoting and leading sustainable business projects in a global context, in support of a more prosperous, just and inclusive society. It seeks to achieve this by generating knowledge through a multidisciplinary approach, working in collaboration with other stakeholders and, in doing so, helping to address the major challenges facing society. The Award also aims to pay tribute to Sebastián Iruretagoyena, who died prematurely in 2009. Professor Iruretagoyena left an indelible mark on his students, teaching subjects that are essential for anyone pursuing a career in the business world. His area of expertise was accounting and financial analysis, and he taught his students to understand what lies behind the figures. What had seemed like a cryptic language to many of them became, after his classes, an essential tool.
The judging panel, comprising Dr Asun Ibáñez, Vice-Dean of Deusto Business School at the Donostia-San Sebastian campus (representing the Dean of the Faculty, Dr Macarena Cuenca); Dr Cristina Iturrioz-Landart, Academic Coordinator for the Business Administration Final Year Project at the Donostia-San Sebastian campus; Rosa Cristobal, a member of the Faculty's Department of Finance and Economics; David Iruretagoyena, Amaia Iruretagoyena and María Iruretagoyena, representing the Iruretagoyena family; and José Juan Ijurko, President of the ALCE Foundation, assessed the shortlisted projects from both an academic perspective and in terms of their economic, social and environmental impact, as well as their collaboration with external partners, engagement with the University and connection with real-world practice. Most final-year projects for the Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Deusto Business School on the San Sebastian campus are carried out by tackling real-world business challenges, either in collaboration with companies, where students work on projects addressing specific needs put forward by those companies, or through projects that develop business plans for the creation of new business ventures.
The candidates competing for the award are students enrolled in Final Year Project subject on the Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Deusto Business School in San Sebastian. The award carries a cash prize of 2,000 euros in the category of the Best Undergraduate Final Year Project in the Bachelor's programme in Business Management and Administration and 1,000 euros for the project with the best economic and financial analysis.
