Who we are |
Trajectory

Our beginnings

The Zamorano family comes from an important lineage of industrialists who began their activity in 1902, with Luis Zamorano Benítez, creator of one of the first tobacco factories in the Canary Islands. Since that crucial moment, the business trajectory of Grupo CIO has been marked by important milestones that have made it a benchmark company in the Canary Islands.

The testimony of this “industrial” concern has been passed down to the present day with the descendants of Luis Zamorano Tais, who joined most of the small tobacco factories that proliferated in Tenerife to create Centro Industrial de Tabaqueros Asociados (CITA), which successfully popularised the brands “Rex”, “Record”, “XXX” and above all “Coronas” in 1949.

Its international impact led it to have subsidiaries in very diverse places such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Germany, France and Portugal, with its main commercial headquarters based in Madrid.

Diversification

Luis Zamorano Tais was a founding partner of companies deeply rooted in our economic history like Montesano, 7 Mares, Frigoten and Supermercado San Antonio, the first supermarket in Tenerife. He also created “Gánigo”, the best art gallery on the island and tackled the property sector with buildings on central streets in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and industrial buildings.

In 1975, we started our activity in Aguas de Vilaflor, a spring water bottling company, better known by its brand Fuentealta. Since then, we have continued being the leading brand in the bottled water sector in the Canary Islands. In 2020 we decided to continue diversifying the business with the birth of BB, the water of the new generation and in 2021 we launched Eco BB, our first bottled water in 100% recycled packaging.

Vision

In the 1990s, the family’s entrepreneurial character re-emerged, facing the challenge of an unprecedented new project in the tourism sector: Hotel Bahía del Duque. The first luxury hotel of its kind in the archipelago and a clear example of our hospitality culture and the innovative CIO seal. Bahía del Duque is today an icon of the most exquisite service.

In 2005, the company sold its share in CITA to the multinational Gallagher, grouping its companies in what is now the Grupo CIO and directing its activity towards its current space: the tourist, real estate, financial, service and industrial sectors.

Expansion

Parallel to this route The Tais Hotels & Villas was born, an exclusive collection of extraordinary and independent hotels, each of them uncommon. The Tais Hotels & Villas combines the future Group projects; based on the experience of Bahía del Duque, it opens the doors to international expansion.