UN blacklists Real Madrid President Pérez's company over 'Israeli' settlement activities

The United Nations has placed ACS Actividades de Construcción y Servicios S.A., the multinational firm chaired by Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez, on its blacklist of companies linked to 'Israeli' settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The decision was announced in a report released on Sept. 26, 2025, by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The database, first mandated under Human Rights Council resolution 31/36, was established in response to recommendations made by an independent fact-finding mission investigating the impact of settlements on the rights of Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

According to the OHCHR, ACS was included under the category of “listed activities” that raise serious human rights concerns, specifically the exploitation and use of natural resources such as land and water in areas under the Israeli Occupation.

The Human Rights Council has long argued that such activities contribute to sustaining the settlement enterprise, which the UN considers illegal under international law. “Businesses that extract or profit from the use of natural resources in occupied territory are complicit in violations of the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the Palestinian people,” the report stated.

While the report does not specify the direct projects undertaken by ACS, it underlines that the company’s operations fall within the scope of settlement-related practices identified as problematic by the UN. These include construction, infrastructure development, and the commercial use of occupied land.

The blacklisting could carry reputational and financial consequences for ACS, one of Spain’s largest construction and services groups, as investors, governments, and international institutions often reference the UN database when reviewing partnerships and contracts.

Pérez, who has chaired ACS since 1997 while simultaneously presiding over Real Madrid, has not publicly commented on the UN report.