Ignacio Madalena’s commercial vision is remarkable.
Biography
Ignacio Madalena leads the international arbitration practice of the Firm in Spain. Triple-qualified in Spain, New York, and England & Wales, Ignacio has extensive experience advising and representing clients from around the world in arbitrations under all major institutional rules, with a particular focus on the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Ignacio has deep expertise in proceedings under the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the rules of Spain's main arbitration institutions. He regularly represents clients in commercial arbitrations involving construction and engineering projects, as well as post M&A and joint venture disputes. He also sits as arbitrator, both as party appointed arbitrator and as tribunal chair in commercial disputes.
Ignacio has a long track record in investment treaty disputes between states and foreign investors, particularly in cases arising out of changes to regulatory regimes and expropriations. He has represented clients in investment disputes in jurisdictions including Albania, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kazakhstan and Spain, among others.
His practice also covers the enforcement of arbitral awards and set aside proceedings before the Spanish courts, with a strong emphasis on sovereign related disputes. He represents clients in the enforcement of investor state and commercial awards and coordinates multi jurisdictional enforcement cases involving states and state owned entities.
In addition, Ignacio frequently advises on international law and dispute resolution issues at the transactional stage. His work ranges from sovereign immunity and regulatory risk assessments to structuring and planning investments to secure appropriate investment treaty protection, and designing sophisticated dispute resolution mechanisms for complex cross border transactions and large infrastructure projects.
Recognized as a thought leader in the field, Ignacio is a regular speaker at international arbitration conferences and has published extensively on arbitration and international investment law. He has taught international investment law and arbitration at leading academic institutions, including Instituto de Empresa and the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles in Madrid.
After graduating from law school in Madrid in 1999, Ignacio completed an LL.M. in Public International Law at Georgetown University and an LL.M. in International Business Law at KU Leuven. His international arbitration career has taken him to live and practice in London, Madrid, Paris and Washington, DC.
He has been recognized as "Highly Recommended" by Lexology and received Lexology's Client Choice Award in 2025, reflecting the strength of his practice, the trust of his clients and the quality of his work in international arbitration.
Experience
Ignacio’s arbitration experience in recent years includes:
- ICSID arbitration under the Albania-Germany BIT. Successful representation of an Eastern European State in an investment treaty claim from a German investor in a dispute arising from a port concession. Settlement in favour of the State.
- ICSID arbitration against Spain under the ECT. Successful representation of a Japanese investor an ICSID arbitration against Spain under the Energy Charter Treaty arising from Spain’s changes to the regulatory regime for renewable energy projects. Currently acting for the client defending the award in ICSID annulment proceedings.
- ICSID arbitration under the Spain-Colombia BIT. Successful representation of a Spanish telecommunications company in an ICSID arbitration against the Colombia under the Spain-Colombia BIT in a dispute relating to a concession agreement for mobile telephone services. Currently acting for the client defending the award in ICSID annulment proceedings.
- ICSID arbitrations against Honduras under the DR-CAFTA and the Panama-Central America free trade agreement. Advised Guatemalan and Panamanian investors in their treaty claims against Honduras arising from changes to the regulatory regime affecting their investments in photovoltaic (PV) projects.
- Annulment proceedings before the Spanish courts. Successful representation of a State before the Madrid High Court, defending the validity of an award rendered under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules in a €14 billion investment treaty dispute.
- Arbitration in Madrid in a post-M&A dispute. Leading the team in the successful representation of the claimant, a Belgian industrial group that acquired a company that manufactures blade bearings, against the sellers, in a Spanish law and English language proceeding before the Madrid Court of Arbitration, involving claims of wilful misconduct.
- ICC arbitration in Zurich in connection with a dispute over a lottery license agreement. Defending an Eastern European State from a claim brought by an Austrian investor under a license agreement.
- ICC arbitration in Trinidad & Tobago involving a construction dispute. Acting for a contractor in an international commercial arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules against the employer, in a dispute under a FIDIC Pink Book contract relating to the construction of a water treatment plant.
- ICC arbitration in Peru defencing the client from gross-negligence claims. Acting for a global energy technology company in an ICC arbitration seated in Lima and governed by Peruvian law, brought by an insurance company and concerning negligence claims in the maintenance of a gas turbine.
- ICC arbitration in Geneva involving a construction dispute in Slovakia. Obtained a favourable settlement for the employer in an ICC arbitration in Geneva brought by the EPC contractor, in a project for the construction of a road in Bratislava.
- ICC arbitration in Madrid involving joint venture dispute. Leading the team representing an infrastructure fund based on London in an ICC arbitration under Spanish law arising from a joint venture dispute over a photovoltaic project in Mexico.
Professional Highlights
Lexology Arbitration: Highly Recommended (2025)
Client Choice Award 2025 (Lexology)
Chambers & Partners: Arbitration
Legal 500: Dispute Resolution
Co-author: ":Arbitraje de inversión y proceso judicial: puntos de fricción y cooperación", in Libro homenaje a Miguel Ángel Fernández-Ballesteros, Club Español e Iberoamericano del Arbitraje (2024).
Co-author: "Spanish Constitutional Court Limits the Scope of Review of Awards in Actions to Set Aside," W&C publication, 15 March 2021.
Co-author: "Managing Contractual Performance in Times of Sanitary Crisis: The Spanish Law Perspective, W&C publication, 14 May 2020.
Co-author: "Función y deberes del árbitro", in Flores Sentíes, H. (ed.), Retos Contemporáneos del Arbitraje Internacional (Tirant Lo Blanch, Mexico City, 2018).
Co-author: "Increased enforcement risk in intra-EU investment treaty arbitration," Legal & Regulatory Risk Note, A&O Publication (May 2018).
Co-author: "Spain" in The International Arbitration Review, 8th ed. (2017).
Author: "Medidas regulatorias y expropiación: tratamiento en la práctica arbitral", Lima Arbitration – Revista del Círculo Peruano de Arbitraje, núm. 7, 2016-2017.
Author: "Concession Agreements and Investment Treaty Claims," GAR's Arbitration Review of the Americas 2018 (2017).
Author: "Trans-Pacific Partnership," GAR's Arbitration Review of the Americas 2017 (2016).
Author: "Ethics in International Arbitration: the Role of the Arbitral Tribunal," International Arbitration Law Review (Dec. 2012).
Co-author, "Human Rights and Investment Treaty Arbitration," A&O Publication (2012).
Co-author, "Dispute Avoidance and Management in Construction and Engineering Projects," in EPC Contracts and Major Projects: A Guide to Construction and Other Project Contracts, Nigel Pritchard and John Scriven (eds.) (2011).
Co-Author, "Advocacy from the Perspective of a Civil Law Arbitrator," in The Art of Advocacy in International Arbitration, 2nd Edition, R. Doak Bishop (Ed.) (2010).
Co-Author, "Parallel Proceedings in International Arbitration," Arbitration International, vol. 24, no. 4 (2008).
Co-Author, "The ICC Dispute Board Rules," International Arbitration Law Review, vol. 8 (2005) "The U.S. Model BIT," International Arbitration Law Review, vol. 7, Issue 3 (June 2004).
Ranked in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500
