Juan Bautista Soler Martí (1879–1936) was a Spanish entrepreneur and politician. He is best known as one of key orange exporters from the Levantine coast in the interwar period; he was also one of key people behind development of the port of Burriana. He held many positions in local business and self-government, serving as mayor of Burriana in 1930–1931. Politically he headed the Carlist organization in the province of Castellón.
Family and youth
The names of Soler and Martí are fairly popular on the Levantine coast and both are supposed to be of French origin, recorded already respectively in the 12th and 13th century.in the 12th century the Solers were already known as local magnates in Aragón and Catalonia, while the noble Martí family, owners of many estates ranging from Barcelona to Alicante, was first noted in the 13th century; Soler entry, [in:] Blasonari service, available here , Martí entry, [in:] Heráldica Valenciana service, available here However, there is nothing certain about distant ancestors of Juan Bautista. His great-grandfather José Soler Mallent originated from the town of Albuixech, few miles north of Valencia;José Soler Mallent entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here he married Ramona Torrent Rois, yet there is no information on his occupation. At some point the couple moved to the Levantine coastal town of Burriana, the birthplace of Juan Bautista's grandfather, Vicente Soler Torrent (1798–1871).Juan Bautista Soler Martí entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here He worked as petty merchant and perhaps as a farmer, busy with collecting and sale of fodder for the local livestock.María Dolores Agustí Soler, Juan Bautista Soler Martí, representante del comercio naranjero en Burriana (1879–1936), [in:] Rosa Monlleó (ed.), Castelló al segle XX, Barcelona 2006, , p. 238 Married to Ramona Torrent Rios, he had 12 children, born between 1810s and 1840s.Vicente Soler Torrent entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here One of them was the father of Juan Bautista, Ramón Soler Marco.
Ramón Soler Marco married Francisca Martí Perez (1844–?)Juan Bautista Soler Martí entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here and the couple remained in Burriana. They lived off the same fodder trade, though Ramón also tried to breed horses; his family is counted among the agrarian working class and because of the occupation they were known as "pallasos"."sus padres son labradores", Agustí Soler 2006, p. 238 They had 6 children, 3 sons and 3 daughters,Agustí Soler 2006, p. 238 Juan Bautista probably born as the youngest one.Ramón Soler Marco entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here Soler Marco died prematurely as victim to a work accident, due to injuries suffered when harmed by a horse in his stable.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 238 It seems that Juan Bautista and his siblings were raised in poverty; he learnt to read and write in the army, as in 1898 he volunteered to spare conscription to his older brother Manuel, who apparently was more needed in the family economy.Bellés, Alcalde de Burriana con la creación del puerto y el Círculo Frutero, [in:] El Periodico Mediterraneo 15.12.02, available here It is not clear whether he served on the peninsula or overseas.
Having terminated military service in 1900 Juan Bautista commenced working in a petty merchant business of his older brother Ramón.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 239 In 1901 he married a local girl, Francisca Maria Antonia Martínez Chiva (1880–1970),Bellés 2012 daughter to another Burriana trader Blas Martínez Sales.Francisca María Martínez Chiva entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here It is not clear how many children the couple had; according to one source there were 3 boys and 2 daughters,Agustí Soler 2006, p. 246 according to another they had 4 children.Juan Bautista Soler Martí entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here Either 2 or 3 of them died prematurely; Francisca and Dolores perished in the early infant age. There is confusing information on a José, who allegedly died at the early age; he reportedly shot himself when playing with a pistol of his father, yet it is not clear whether he was indeed Soler's son.according to one source "otro hijo, Pepito, que muere también de pequeño al disparársele una pistol de su padre", Agustí Soler 2006, p. 246. From a press note it appears that the boy was rather the brother of Soler Martí, as it was noted that a boy of 15 named José Soler Martí in 1898 committed "suicidio por imprudencia", El Estandarte Católico 22.07.98, available here Of the two surviving sons both held important local Burriana roles. Juan Bautista Soler Martínez, a Carlist like his father, after the Civil War emerged as the provincial Falange secretary in Castellón;Andreu Ginés i Sànchez, La instauració del franquisme al País Valencià, Valencia 2011, , p. 57 until death in 1970 he was concejal of the Burriana ayuntamiento.Mediterraneo 27.10.70, available here José Soler Martinez served as police operative in Almeria the early 1940s;Óscar J. Rodríguez Barreira, Poder y actitudes sociales durante la postguerra en Almería (1939–1953), Almeria 2007, , p. 59 both were engaged in orange business inherited from their father.Ginés i Sànchez 2011, p. 66
Entrepreneur
In the early 1900s Soler kept working in petty merchant company run by his older brother; in a building which earlier hosted a sugar refinery "El Ingenio"Agustí Soler 2006, p. 239 and then a "Calaix" manufacture,Bellés 2012 Ramón Soler Martí set up headquarters of his orange trade business. The venture proved extremely successful commercially, mostly due to changing international market conditions. Since the very late 19th century the Levantine orange exports soared, chiefly because of growing demand in Western Europe.Vicente Abad García, Historia de la naranja, 1781–1939, Valencia 1984, p. 57 Burriana turned into the key export port of the region, leaving behind Gandia, Castellón and Vinaròs;Joaquín Peris Fuentes, El Puerto de Burriana, Burriana 1910, p. 7 in the first decade of the 20th century its exports grew by 226% in terms of tonnage and 179% in terms of value.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 241 Though coming of the Great War temporarily impaired the Levantine orange trade, exports started to grow again in the late 1910s.Francesco Roca y Alcaide, Historia de Burriana, Castellón 1932, p. 520 In 1917 Juan Bautista decided to leave the family business; banking on his 15-year-experience of "comprador de naranjas",Agustí Soler 2006, p. 239 he set up an own export company.Bellés 2012
When Juan Bautista Soler Martí launched his venture the golden era in the Levantine orange business was just about to begin.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 243 The exports kept soaring; in the very early 1920s around 70% of Burriana oranges were shipped to Britain, but some went as far as to Gothenburg or Danzig.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 246 The local harbor infrastructure, barely more than a makeshift wooden pier, was no longer able to handle the cargo traffic. In the early 1920s Soler and other local entrepreneurs led by Jaime Chicharro were busy lobbying for financial aid; in 1921 their efforts resulted in a Royal Order which marked significant state resources for development of the harborBellés 2012 and envisaged also major investments which would connect the port with the national railway network.Biografia sucinta de D. Jaime Chicharro, [in:] Buris-Ana. Boletín de la Agrupación Burrianense de Cultura 77 (1958), pp. 2, 13
In the mid-1920s Soler Martí emerged as one of key local entrepreneurs. In 1924 he became president of Círculo Frutero,Agustí Soler 2006, p. 247 association of some 140 local orange exporters, and held the post during various strings also later on. Not unrelated to the orange business was his post of president of Banco de Burriana, the institution he co-founded earlier in the decade.Agustí Soler 2006, pp. 247–248 In the 1930s he started to tune down his local Burriana engagements, e.g. in Círculo Frutero he limited himself to president of Sección de Embarques y Exportación.Candidatos carlistas de ayer y de hoy por Castellón y la Tradición, [in:] Carlistas. Historia y Cultura blog 19 February 2008, available here Instead, Soler got increasingly engaged in provincial Castellón and regional Valencian organizations; he served as director of Ponencia Naranjera de Levantesee e.g. Heraldo de Castellón 17.08.26, available here and in the early 1930s entered the executive of Confederación Frutera de Levante;Las Provincias 21.10.32, available here as its lobbyist he kept visiting ministers already during the Republican era.Heraldo de Castellón 03.10.32, available here Soler tried also to diversify his assets; he invested in paper industry as co-owner of Papelera del Mijares, known also as Timbrado Burrianense.Agustí Soler 2006, p. 248 Soler also got engaged in show-business; he was among major shareholders of CifesaAgustí Soler 2006, p. 247 and held stakes in Plaza de Toros and in Teatro Principal, both in Valencia.Bellés 2012 In some 25 years he turned from barely literate employee in petty family enterprise into a provincial trade tycoon running an international business and operating commercial offices in London.
Primoderiverista
None of the sources consulted provides any information on political preferences of Soler's ancestors. One clearly partisan account claims that he was a Carlist from his childhood days,Candidatos carlistas de ayer y de hoy por Castellón y la Tradición, [in:] Carlistas. Historia y Cultura blog 19 February 2008, available here yet there is no confirmation available. His biographer does not refer to any Soler's political engagements of his youth.compare Agustí Soler 2006 First press notes which point to his public endeavors flavored with politics are these from the early 1920s, though they are related to lobbying for Burriana investments rather than to any party politics. In 1924 he co-fathered a large Memorandum, which outlined further infrastructure needs of the harbor. It was intended for the military Directorio; in early 1924 Soler and other local lobbyists led by Chicharro travelled to Madrid to present the document. Their mission was successful; Miguel Primo de Rivera himself demonstrated some interest and in April 1924 he visited Burriana. As a prominent local entrepreneur and co-author of Memorandum, Soler effusively welcomed the dictator. At this opportunity he was among these who co-founded the local Somatén, an auxiliary civil militia promoted by the regime,Agustí Soler 2006, p. 247 and contributed to extensive implantation of primoderiverismo in the Castellón province.compare Raul González Devis, Católicos y autoritarios: la dictadura de Primo de Rivera en las comarcas castellonenses, [in:] Carlos Navajas, Diego Iturriaga (eds.), Novísima. Actas del II Congreso Internacional de Historia de Nuestro Tiempo, Logroño 2010, , pp. 235–244