Sfera, the fashion and accessories chain owned by El Corte Inglés, is proving that Spain's largest department store group can still move fast in fashion retail. In the financial year to 28 February 2026, the brand opened 28 new stores outside its home market, pushing its international network from 346 to 367 points of sale. Combined with its Iberian base, Sfera closed the year with 547 stores across 17 countries, up from 529 twelve months earlier, its most international footprint yet.
The growth is almost entirely franchise-led. Of the 28 openings, 20 were run by local partners, lifting Sfera's franchised store count from 289 to 309 across 14 markets. Just one new store was company-owned, in Mexico, where El Corte Inglés operates through a joint venture with El Puerto de Liverpool. It is a familiar playbook for retailers chasing scale without capital risk: hand the real estate exposure to partners who already understand the local market, and keep the brand's own balance sheet light.
The expansion was selective rather than scattergun. Switzerland led the year with 13 new stores, taking its total to 65, Ireland added 10 to reach 32, and smaller gains landed in Cyprus, Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama. At the same time, Sfera quietly pulled out of weaker positions, closing stores in Chile, Martinique, El Salvador and Réunion Island, exiting the last two markets altogether. For developers and landlords watching where the brand might land next, that pattern, chasing proven demand while cutting losses fast, says more than any expansion plan could.
At home, the story is steadier. Spain ended the year with 171 stores, two fewer than the year before, split between 102 standalone units and 69 corners inside El Corte Inglés department stores, and Portugal closed with nine, one fewer. The Iberian network has settled into a mature core while the growth engine runs abroad, a shift increasingly steered by Ángela Goitia, who has led Sfera's store network and expansion since late 2023 after running retail at the Portuguese chain Parfois.
There is a financial backdrop that gives the expansion added weight for anyone structuring a deal with the group. In June 2026, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings upgraded El Corte Inglés's credit rating to BBB from BBB-, pointing to stronger profitability and a €148m cut in net financial debt, now at €1.648bn, its lowest level in almost 20 years. That puts the group among a small club of internationally rated, investment-grade retailers, a status that matters directly to landlords and franchisees weighing long-term commitments. It also backs a bigger capital plan: more than €3bn earmarked for store remodelling and growth through 2030, with this year's spend alone set to rise 14.6% to €650m.
The timing lines up with a change at the top. Cristina Álvarez became El Corte Inglés's non-executive president in January 2026, succeeding her sister Marta Álvarez, under whose leadership Sfera was folded into the group's central structure in 2020, a merger the company said was designed for "leveraging synergies between the group's different formats". Six years on, that bet appears to be paying off: Sfera is now El Corte Inglés's most international brand, and its franchise partners, rather than the group itself, are doing much of the heavy lifting to achieve this.
People mentioned:
- Cristina Álvarez – Non-executive president, El Corte Inglés
- Marta Álvarez – Board member and former president, El Corte Inglés
- Ángela Goitia – Head of stores and expansion, Sfera
Companies mentioned:
- El Corte Inglés – Spanish department store group, parent company of Sfera
- Sfera – Fashion and accessories chain
- El Puerto de Liverpool – Mexican retail group, joint venture partner for Sfera's Mexico stores
- Fitch Ratings – Credit rating agency
- S&P Global Ratings – Credit rating agency
