Stoneweg, a Swiss-based fund manager that has found its best avenue for growth in tourism, is increasingly gaining traction on the map of large hotel operations in Spain. Founded in 2015 by Spaniards Jaume Sabater and Joaquim Castellví, the firm has specialized in alternative investments and is now the financial partner supporting Lopesan in its international expansion strategy.
In parallel, Stoneweg follows a similar path to Azora's model, but with a co-investment approach alongside major tourism groups such as Lopesan. While Azora directly manages an extensive portfolio of hotels in Spain and Southern Europe, Stoneweg's strategy focuses on strengthening alliances with established operators to guarantee the management and long-term value of the assets. This formula, less exposed to daily operations and more focused on financial and asset development, allows the fund to diversify risks and accelerate new acquisitions in the European hotel market.
The mechanism is clear: Stoneweg structures investment vehicles that channel institutional capital—pension funds, insurance companies, family wealth—into large hotel assets. At the same time, it relies on experienced managers like Lopesan to add value to these properties, not only from a profitability perspective, but also from a tourism perspective. The result is a capital-operation combination that multiplies the attractiveness of these projects compared to other purely financial players.
The model has already proven its effectiveness. Stoneweg's first hotel fund mobilized €450 million across seven properties, and the asset manager is currently working on a second fund that aims to reach €1.000 billion, with the goal of adding up to fifteen hotels and extending the strategy beyond Spain to Portugal and Italy. In this roadmap, Lopesan provides operational and marketing expertise in mature markets such as the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, and the Riviera Maya, while Stoneweg ensures financial support and dialogue with international capital.
The context is favorable. The first half of 2025 closed with €1.766 billion invested in hotels in Spain, 20% more than the same period last year and the third-highest historical record according to Colliers. In this scenario, the Stoneweg-Lopesan alliance not only allows them to compete in large-scale transactions—such as the sale of the Mare Nostrum Resort in Tenerife South, valued at €430 million—but also positions them to lead future transactions that will mark the close of the year, expected to bring more than €3.000 billion in hotel investment.
At the same time, Lopesan has continued to divest certain European assets to reorganize its portfolio. Notable among these transactions is the sale of several complexes to a fund managed by Azora, which allows the Canary Islands hotel chain to combine selective growth with the rotation of non-strategic assets. This balance between acquisitions and sales allows it to free up resources for major alliances with partners like Stoneweg, maximizing its ability to compete in a highly dynamic market.
Ultimately, Stoneweg acts as a bridge between global capital and leading holiday hotels, and Lopesan is the partner that transforms these assets into profitable and established destinations. The combination of both explains why, on the radar of major consulting firms, this partnership has become one of the most solid in Spanish tourism.
