One of the best investments made by Zara billionaire Amancio Ortega, who is worth $146 billion, is not his $300 million superyacht Drizzle, but the $315 million donation to finance a public cancer-treatment network. The money is financing the acquisition of ten proton-therapy systems for nine public facilities across seven Spanish regions. Far from being a distant dream, the billionaire’s proton-therapy machines are a promising reality that will become available to the public healthcare system starting in the first quarter of 2027. The first two units will be installed at the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela and the University Hospital of Fuenlabrada in Madrid.
The 90-year-old fashion mogul, who underwent surgery in the United States to remove a small tumor, has a clear personal connection to the cause and is doing far more than just signing checks. Vanity Fair quoted Ortega from Covadonga O’Shea’s book as saying, “I had surgery for something serious in the United States. I was afraid.” His experience adds a personal dimension to a donation intended to expand access to advanced cancer care.
In addition to the two facilities mentioned above, seven other centers will receive the proton-therapy systems, La Paz Hospital in Madrid, La Fe Hospital in Valencia, the University Hospital of San Sebastián, the Proton Therapy Unit of Catalonia (which will house two machines), Doctor Muñoz Cariñanos Hospital in Seville, the Maternal and Child Hospital within the Regional Hospital of Málaga, and Doctor Negrín Hospital of Gran Canaria.
Each machine is estimated to treat between 200 and 330 patients per year. All ten machines are expected to be fully operational between the final quarter of 2028 and the first quarter of 2029, bringing the total treatment capacity to an estimated 3,000 patients annually. According to ABC, the Interterritorial Health Council is expected to approve the clinical criteria for using this equipment this Friday.
How will the system work?
At Valencia’s La Fe Hospital, the Proteus ONE system manufactured by IBA and its associated equipment cost approximately $33 million, with a rotating gantry nearly 25 feet across housed in a bunker with concrete walls up to 10 feet thick. Alongside these machines, hospitals would use a “prioritization calculator” to determine which patients receive treatment first. Nine clinical parameters will guide patient prioritization: patient age, tumor location, indication for proton therapy based on tumor type, presence of metastasis, re-irradiation needs in the same area, clinical urgency, patient radiosensitivity, fertility preservation, and, where applicable, radiation dose reduction to a fetus.
Age will remain a decisive factor, placing pediatric patients at the top of the priority list. Children under 14 years of age will receive care first to protect vital developing tissue and give them the best chance at a long, healthy life. To date, Ortega has allocated approximately $750 million through his foundation across three public oncology initiatives.
Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiotherapy that uses proton beams rather than conventional X-rays, concentrating the radiation dose within the tumor while reducing exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. It is not intended to replace standard radiotherapy, which remains the most effective and appropriate approach for many cancer types. Even the ultra-wealthy will agree with the adage that health indeed is the true wealth!
Note: According to Forbes, Amancio Ortega was the world’s eleventh richest man, worth $146 billion, at the time of writing.
