Juan Granell Pascual (1902-1962) was a Spanish politician, official and businessman. Politically he first supported the Carlist cause and served in the Republican Cortes in 1933–1936. After the Civil War he turned into a militant and zealous Francoist. His political career climaxed in the early 1940s; in 1939-1945 he was member of the FET executive Consejo Nacional, in 1940-1941 he was the civil governor and the provincial FET leader in Biscay, in 1940-1941 he served in Tribunal Especial para la Represión de la Masonería y el Comunismo, in 1941-1945 he was sub-secretary of industry in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and member of the Instituto Nacional de Industria council. In 1943-1949 during two terms he was member of Cortes Españolas. In 1945-1953 he managed the state-run energy conglomerate ENDESA and was responsible for construction of the first coal-fired thermal power plant in Spain; he was also in executive bodies of numerous other companies.
Family and youth
The Granell family is of Catalan origin; in the region of Valencia it was first noted in the mid-13th century and in the area of Castellón in the late 14th century.Significado de Granell, [in:] Mis Apellidos service, available here In the course of the centuries it got very branched and popular along all the Spanish Mediterranean coast and numerous individuals rose to publicly recognizable figures, but none of them has been identified as related to Granell Pascual.the list of individuals who became public figures and were contemporaries to Juan Granell Pascual included Ramon Granell Pascual, Amado Granell Mesado, Jeroni Ferran Granell i Manresa, Francisco Granell Felis, Antonio Fillol Granell, Juan Granell Acosta and Enrique Sapena Granell; none has been identified as his relative His family branch originated from Bétera near ValenciaFrances Granell got married in Betera in 1655, Francesc Granell entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here but in the early 18th century they settled in the port town of Burriana, south of Castellón.Francisco Granell Andreu got married in Burriana in 1718, Francisco Granell Andreu entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here From then on 4 successive generations lived in Burriana, including Juan's grandfather, Juan Bautista Granell Fandos.Juan Bautista Granell Fandos entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here His social status is unclear and none of the sources consulted provides information what he was doing for a living, though some suggest that the family owned a large "finca citrícola" on the right bank of the Mijares river and were growing lemons and oranges.Emilio Laguna, Un ejemplar centenario de Sophora japónica ‘Pendula’, [in:] Research Gate service 2012, p. 6 Granell Fandos’ son, Vicente Granell Blanch (1869-after 1940Era su padre, [in:] Buris-Ana 66 (1963), p. 7), in 1892 married a girl from another family of local orange growers,El Pueblo 11.03.15, available here Dolores Pascual Mingarro.Dolores Pascual Mingarro entry, [in:] Geneanet service, available here The couple settled in Burriana and had at least 3 children, born in 1893–1902; Juan was the youngest one.
As a boy Juan first frequented a private school in Burriana.see homage article to his former schoolmaster, Heraldo de Castellón 24.07.28, available here In his early teens he became a boarder in the Jesuit Colegio de San José in Valencia,La Correspondencia de Valencia 07.12.15, available here where he was noted between 1915 and 1918.La Correspondencia de Valencia 12.12.15, available here, also Las Provincias 25.03.18, available here At unspecified time though probably in the late 1910s he moved to Madrid to commence higher education and enrolled at Escuela de Mecánica y Electricidad, a Jesuit technical school currently known as Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería.Gonzalo Anes Alvares de Castrillón, Santiago Fernández Plasencia, Juan Temboury Villareio, Endesa en su historia (1944-2000), Madrid 2010, ISBN 9788461459063, p. 68 It is not clear when he graduated as engineer; in 1928 he was referred to as “ingeniero electricista”.Heraldo de Castellon 24.07.28, available here It is neither known what he was doing for a living in the late 1920s; one scholar when discussing his career in the early 1930s describes Granell Pascual as “a successful engineer”,Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and crisis in Spain 1931-1939, London 2008, ISBN 9780521207294, p. 123 but provides no details on his professional career. Also press of the early 1930s consistently referred to him, as “ingeniero”,El Cruzado Español 30.10.31, available here “ingeniero industrial”Heraldo de Castellon 10.06.33, available here or “ingeniero mecánico electricista”.see Granell Pascual at the official Cortes service, available here
In 1933Heraldo de Castellon 10.06.33, available here Granell married Aurelia Concepción Vicent Planes (1905-1999), a girl from the local bourgeoisie family also engaged in the orange business.the family of her father, the Vicent Real, were engaged in the orange growing business, El Pueblo 08.06.09, available here It is not clear whether the couple settled in Burrianathough since early 1934 Granell served as deputy to the Cortes it seems that his permanent residence was in Burriana, as at the time he was holding provincial jobs in the Castellón party organization, see e.g. El Siglo Futuro 05.03.33, available here or in Madrid.in the early 1930s he was listed among the Madrid Integrists, El Cruzado Español 30.10.31, available here They had 6 children, born between the mid-1930s and the late 1940s: Juan María, María Begoña, Vicente, Jesús, Ignacio and Javier Granell Vicent.in the necrological note of 1963 the only daughter was referred to as Maria Aurelia, Hoja Oficial de Lunes 31.12.62, available here, but in the interview in a local periodical she appears as Maria Begoña, Era su padre, [in:] Buris-Ana 66 (1963), p. 7 None of them became a nationwide known figure, though some were recognized locally. Juan María,Juan Granell Vicent, [in:] Expension service, available here JesúsJesús Granell Vicent necrological note, [in:] Esquelas ABC 29.08.16, available here and IgnacioIgnacio Granell Vicent entry, [in:] Structurae service, available here worked as civil engineers, mostly in construction business; some held also teaching positions,for Ignacio see Puente sobre el río Gállego en la Ronda Este de Zaragoza, available here, for Juan María see BOE 27.02.71, available here while Javier became the head surgeon in the public Madrid health service.Javier Granell Vicent profile, [in:] LinkedIn service, available here Currently the engineering tradition is cultivated by the third generation, as Granell Pascual's grandson Carlos Granell Ninot works in construction business and is the secretary of SPANCOLD, the engineering association focused on dams and hydrotechnical works.Carlos Granell Ninot profile, [in:] LinkedIn service, available here
Early political engagements
None of the sources consulted provides information on political preferences of Granell's ancestors; in Burriana many Granells tended to sympathize with the conservatives.compare José Luis Giménez Julia, El maurisme i la dreta conservadora a la Plana [PhD thesis Universitat Jaume I], Villa-real 2015, e.g. pp. 371, 384, 387, 398 Some data suggest that his father might have been related to Integrismin the 1880s Granell’s father declared adhesion to the Integrist leader Ramón Nocedal, El Siglo Futuro 15.11.89, available here and that he remained a militant Catholic;e.g. in 1900 Granell’s father signed a letter of protest against persecutions of the church, El Estandarte Católico 14.04.00, available here later propaganda prints claimed that Granell Pascual inherited the Traditionalist outlook, possibly highly flavored with Carlism, from his forefathers.a post-mortem hagiographic article claims that Granell absorbed Catholic outlook enveloped in generic Traditionalism from his father; the article hints also at his father’s sympathy towards Carlism, as allegedly he used to sing “qué bien te siente, qué bien te está, la boina blanca y la colorá”, J. Calpe Usó, Semblanza política, [in:] Buris-Ana 66 (1963), p. 5 There is no information on his political engagements prior to late 1931, when Granell Pascual was listed among the Madrid Integrists who paid homage to the defunct Carlist king, Don Jaime.El Cruzado Español 30.10.31, available here He then joined the united Carlist organisation Comunión Tradicionalista and since early 1932 he was noted speaking at Carlist meetings in Burriana, accompanied by former Integrists like Manuel Senante.Las Provincias 05.04.32, available here In early 1933 latest he entered the provincial party executive, Junta Provincial,El Siglo Futuro 05.01.33, available here and later during the year he used to speak at local rallies.Las Provincias 20.04.33, available here
During the 1933 electoral campaign to the Cortes the Castellón Carlists, led by Jaime Chicharro and Juan Bautista Soler, closed an alliance agreement with other right-wing organisations; Granell was included on the joint provincial list of candidates of Unión de Derechas. He campaigned focused on religious issues and protested alleged anti-Catholic governmental policy;El Siglo Futuro 03.11.33, available here following some controversies related to a rival lerrouxista counter-candidate eventually Comisión de Actas declared him elected.Luz 10.01.34, available here In the parliament he joined the Carlist minorityCalpe Usó 1963, p. 5 but remained on the back benches and some authors claim he went unnoticed in the chamber.Vicent Sampedro Ramo, Los hijos de la viuda: La masonería en la ciudad de Alicante (1893-1939), Alicante 2017, ISBN 9788497175494, p. 385 Following the October 1934 unrest he formed part of a commission which investigated the events in BarcelonaBlinkhorn 2008, p. 343 and in 1935 he co-signed a joint motion in CortesEl Siglo Futuro 21.10.35, available here to prosecute Manuel Azaña.La Libertad 14.03.35, available here
Granell did not feature prominently in the national Carlist organization; his only central role identified is membership in Tesoro de la Tradición, a financial branch of the executive.El Siglo Futuro 29.11.34, available here He kept serving in the Castellón Junta Provincial; it was led by Juan Bautista Soler,El Siglo Futuro 26.04.34, available here; some sources claim that Granell was leading the provincial Carlist organisation in Castellón but provide no sources, see Pablo Bahillo Redondo, El Tribunal Especial para la represión de la Masonería y el Comunismo (Termc). 80 años después, [in:] El Obrero 04.06.20, available here though some authors claim that Granell led the junta himself.Sampedro Ramo 2017, p. 385 He remained engaged in regular local activities, like opening new círculosEl siglo Futuro 12.06.34, available here or speaking at rallies, e.g. in CastellónEl Siglo Futuro 04.05.35, available here during so-called Gran Semana Tradicionalista,El Siglo Futuro 08.05.35, available here in OntenienteLa Libertad 27.03.35, available here or Benicarló.Heraldo de Castellon 04.05.35, available here His particular focus was on confronting masonry.e.g. in 1935 Granell took part in a grand anti-masonic rally and according to another Burriana republican deputy and active freemason, Vicent Marco Miranda, Granell developed a particular knack against the freemasonry, Vicent Sampedro Ramo, En situació vigilada: la condemna de Vicent Sos Baynat per Tribunal de Repressió de la Maconeria i el Comunisme, [in:] Millars XXXIV (2011), p. 228 The party propaganda presented him as a representative of “la nueva generación de tradicionalistas” and a “disciplined soldier” of the cause.Jesús Evaristo Casariego, El tradicionalismo español. Su historia, su ideario, sus hombres, Madrid 1934, inserts between pages 120 and 121