José María de Oriol y Urquijo, 3rd Marquis of Casa Oriol (1905–1985) was a Spanish entrepreneur and a Carlist and Francoist politician. During early Francoism a mayor of Bilbao, he is known mostly for his business activity, especially for his role in the Spanish energy industry, Talgo train development and the banking sector. He is counted among the most influential Spanish business managers of the 20th century.
Family and youth
José María Lucas Eusebio de Oriol y Urquijo was born to a distinguished family of Catalan origins, its first members noted in the history of Spain in the 17th century.Pablo de Oriol y Lecha from Flix was recorded as "Ciudadano Honrado de Cataluña", Alfonso Ballestero, José Ma de Oriol y Urquijo, Madrid 2014, , 9788483569160, p. 23 Buenaventura de Oriol y Salvador sided with the legitimists during the First Carlist War. In recognition of his merits the claimant awarded him with Marquesado de Oriol in 1870;Ballestero 2014, p. 23 he was elected to the Cortes in 1872.Ballestero 2014, p. 25 The son of his brother and José María's paternal grandfather, José María de Oriol y Gordo (1845-1899),see José María Oriol Gordo entry at Geni genealogical service, available here the native of Tortosa, joined Carlos VII during the Third Carlist War and served as jefe de Ayudantes of general Dorregaray.Joseba Agirreazkuenaga, Mikel Urquijo (eds.), Bilbao desde sus alcaldes: Diccionario biográfico de los alcaldes de Bilbao y gestión municipal en la Dictadura vol. 3, Bilbao 2008, , p. 189 Following the amnesty he settled in Bilbao and married descendant of a local high bourgeoisie Urigüen family.Gorka Pérez de la Peña Oleaga, Los Ensanches del muelle nuevo de Portugalete: (1869-1917), [in:] Cuadernos de sección. Historia-Geografía Donostia 21 (1993), p. 189 His son and José María's father, José Luis de Oriol y Urigüen (1877-1972), emerged as a Carlist political mogul in Álava, withdrawing from active politics after the Civil War. Having wedded Catalina de Urquijo y Vitórica, descendant to a liberal oligarchic familydespite politically liberal leaning of her family Catalina was very religious, donating to construction of Cerro de los Angeles, see Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 190 controlling much of the Biscay finance,for details see Onésimo Díaz Hernández Los marqueses de Urquijo: el apogeo de una saga poderosa y los inicios del Banco Urquijo, 1870-1931, Pamplona 1998, he married into enormous wealth.her father, Lucas de Urquijo, was co-founder of Hidroeléctrica Española, co-owner of Banco Urquijo (set up by his brother) and a number of other companies (like La Salobreña in Granada or Compañía Minero-Metalúrgica Los Guindos); for details see Onésimo Díaz Hernández, Los primeros años del Banco Urquijo (1918-1931) [University of Navarre working paper], available here), Ballestero 2014, pp. 27-30 In the early 20th century he replaced his father-in-law as CEO of Hidroeléctrica EspañolaJuan Carlos García Adan, Yolanda Diego Martín, El archive historic de Iberdrola y la industria eléctrica en España: fondos para la investigación histórica, [in:] Congreso de Historia Económica, Santiago de Compostela 2005, p. 9, also Francisco Cayón García, Hidroeléctrica Española: un analis de sus primeros años de actividad (1907-1936), [in:] Revista de Historia Económica 20 (2002), pp, 308-311 and in 1942 was co-founder of Talgo;see Talgo official website, available here he is considered one of the most important Spanish entrepreneurs of the 20th century.Francisco Cayón García, Miguel Muñoz Rubio, José Luís de Oriol y Urigüen (1877-1972), [in:] Eugenio Torres Villanueva (ed.), Los 100 empresarios españoles del siglo XX, Madrid 2000, , pp. 255-258 In 1958 he was declared 2nd marquis of Oriol.the marquesado, awarded in 1870, apparently was not claimed by heirs of Buenaventura. Franco made Jose Luis the 2nd marquis of Oriol, which skipped his grandfather (entitled since Buenaventura's death in 1891) and father (entitled since his father's death in 1899); according to the orthodox Carlist reading, José Luis should have been considered the 4th marquis and Jose María the 5th one
José Luis and Catalina initially lived in Biscay, but they soon moved to Madrid. The couple had 8 children, all brought up in a fervently religious ambience;José Luis considered his life just a transitory phase, see Ballestero 2014, p. 53. Apart from a month spent in hiding in Bilbao in July–August 1936, his intimate experience with death included an aviation disaster; when travelling from Madrid to Bilbao on December 4, 1953, the aircraft crashed in Sierra de Guadarrama with 10 survivors, see ABC 05.12.53, available here José María was the oldest one.Ballestero 2014, p. 49 Though born in the Vascongadas, he was raised in the capital, frequenting the Jesuit Areneros college in Chamartin district until obtaining bachillerato in 1922.Ballestero 2014, p. 54 Raised to be the future head of the family and especially key person to manage its huge and complex business, he entered the Madrid Escuela de Ingenieros Industriales. His studies progressed with some difficulty and were interrupted by military service in 1926-7;the question of Oriol's military status is not entirely clear. Ballestero 2014, p. 55 claims that he completed military obligations in 1927 "como sargento destinado en la Escolta Real de Alfonso XIII". A contemporary newspaper claims that in 1929 a certain Barcelona-related José María Oriol served as "capitán de aviación", see El Sol 03.03.29, available here he resumed academic career as unenrolled student and graduated as engineer in 1928.Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 190 A sportsman, he played football in Atlético MadridIn the 1927/8 season, when Atlético was a branch of Athletic Club of Bilbao, Ballestero 2014, p. 55. Probably he played either as amateur or in a reserve team, as none of numerous sites dedicated to Atlético Madrid lists his name, compare here and won local Biscay laurels in tennis.Ballestero 2014, p. 55
In 1929 José María married a sevillana, María Gracia Ibarra y Lasso de la Vega (1908-1981),Ballestero 2014, p. 54 daughter of 3rd conde de Ibarra.El Siglo Futuro 09.01.29, available here The couple had 7 children, José Luis (1930), María de Gracia (1931), Miguel (1933), Iñigo (1934),El Pais 08.10.11, available here Maria del dulce Nombre (1937) Carlos (1940),see Carlos Oriol Ybarra entry at Empresia service, available here and Begoña.Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 191 José Luis, Iñigo and Carlos were active in family business and became recognized nationwide as entrepreneurs, while Miguel made his name as architect, author of Torre de Europa.see Torre Europa entry at Guia Turistica de Madrid service, available here His daughter and José María's granddaughter, Mónica de Oriol Icaza, until 2015 headed the Spanish Círculo de Empresarios.see El Pais 12.03.15, available here, also Cinco Días 25.02.12, available here Brothers of José María grew to top Francoist dignitaries; Antonio María served as minister of justice (1965-1973)some sources wrongly claim it was José María, see Jeremy MacClancy, The Decline of Carlism, Reno 2000, , p. 170. Born 1913, he was capitán de requetés and lawyer, nominated also Director General de Beneficencia in 1957, Delegado nacional de Auxilio Social and Presidente de Cruz Roja Española and Consejero Nacional del Movimiento and president of Consejo de Estado (1973-1979), while Lucas was consejero nacional of FET until its dissolution,born 1910, he was teniente provisional en la guerra civil, lawyer (graduated in Oxford), president of VALCA and Prensa Económica SA (publisher of Desarrollo and Nuevo Diario), owner of Vitorian periodical Norte Exprés, collaborator of El Alcázar, El Imparcial and other periodicals both active also as successful entrepreneurs. Another brother, Fernando, died as Carlist requeté volunteer.heavily wounded during the fightings for Ochandiano in Biscay on October 9, 1936, he died in hospital 5 days later, Germán Ruiz Llano, Villareal de Alava e Isusquiza: imaginario e idalización del voluntariado alavés durante la guerra civil, [in:] Alejandra Ibarra (ed.), Actas del III encuentro de jóvenes investigadores de la AHC, Vitoria 2012 [CD-ROM], p. 11
Carlist
Though some authors suggest that Oriol from the onset sympathized with Carlism,Ballestero 2014, p. 57 none of the sources consulted confirms (or denies) that he was active in Carlist structures prior to 1931.and some suggest he was rather linked to the Alfonsist restoration system: "claramente vinculados al sistema de la restauracion liberal y alfonsina", Manuel Martorell-Pérez, Nuevas aportaciones históricas sobre la evolución ideológica del carlismo, [in:] Gerónimo de Uztariz 16 (2000), p. 104 However, when 3 branches of Traditionalism united in Comunión Tradicionalista, in May 1932 José María was nominated to its Junta Vasco-Navarra.Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 191 Following re-organization of 1934 he was nominated assessor of Delegación Especial de Juventudes.Robert Vallverdú i Martí, El Carlisme Català Durant La Segona República Espanyola 1931-1936, Barcelona 2008, , 9788478260805, p. 162 He is known mostly as supporting own father, successfully organising his electoral campaigns in Álava.Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 190 In 1936 Oriol became member of Junta Militar, a Saint-Jean-de-Luz based executive of Carlist conspiracy.Javier Ugarte Tellería, La nueva Covadonga insurgente: orígenes sociales y culturales de la sublevación de 1936 en Navarra y el País Vasco, Madrid 1998, , 9788470305313, p. 74 As a party envoy a few times he met the imprisoned José Antonio Primo de Rivera, negotiating details of a would-be Carlist and Falangist insurgent alliance.Ballestero 2014, p. 57, Ugarte Tellería 1998, p. 74 Locally he served as a link between his parent and head of the military plot in Álava, teniente coronel Alonso Vega.Ballestero 2014, p. 57; some fairly detailed sources claim he was personally negotiating with Mola, which seems to confuse the father and the son, see Juan Carlos Peñas Bernaldo de Quirós, El Carlismo, la República y la Guerra Civil (1936-1937). De la conspiración a la unificación, Madrid 1996, , 9788487863523, pp. 33 and 333, also Stanley G. Payne, Politics and the Military in Modern Spain, Stanford 1967, , p. 334. Detailed and correct version in Iñaki Gil Basterra, Araba en 1936. Guerra y represion, p. 2, available here During the coup Oriol was in Bilbao,Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 191 where the rebels failed; he went into hiding and left the city on a ship, disguised as a foreigner.and accompanied by his British friend Ballestero 2014, p. 57, Agirreazkuenaga, Urquijo 2008, p. 191