Miguel Martínez de Pinillos Sáenz

Miguel Martínez de Pinillos Sáenz (1875-1953)[1] was a Spanish entrepreneur. He is known mostly as a ship-owner, who operated a Cádiz-based fleet of merchant vessels on Mediterranean and Atlantic routes. He is recognized also as a locally known conservative politician, briefly serving in the Cortes as a Carlist deputy.

Miguel Martínez de Pinillos Sáenz
Born
Miguel Martínez de Pinillos Sáenz

1875
Cadiz, Spain
Died1953
Cadiz, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Occupationentrepreneur
Known forship-owner
Political partyUnion Patriotica, CT

Family and youth

Cadiz, 1880s

The Pinillos originated from La Rioja and were first noted in the 16th century; one of its representatives, Martín, got his first name incorporated into the family surname.[2] Many of their members served either in the Spanish administration or in the military;[3] because of their overseas duties, the family became very branched with some of its descendants noted in history of various Latin American countries, notably Cuba[4] and Bolivia.[5] Miguel’s great-grandfather, Antonio Martínez de Pinillos Marín, was the last one who lived in La Rioja. His son and Miguel’s grandfather, Miguel Martínez de Pinillos y Sáenz de Velasco, though born in Nieva de Cameros moved to the South and settled in Cádiz. In the 1830s he engaged in maritime business as owner of a ship serving the Spanish West Indies; in the 1840 his business grew to a fleet of vessels.[6]

In the 1880s the enterprise was taken over by Miguel's son and also Miguel’s father, Antonio María Martínez de Pinillos Izquierdo (1843-1926);[7] under his management the enterprise reached its golden age. Antonio modernized the fleet by switching to steamers and operated new regular routes both on the Atlantic and on the Mediterranean, opening a base in Santander and trying to serve also Northern Europe and the Far East. His company, first named Pinillos, Sáenz y Cia. and since the 1890s Pinillos, Izquierdo y Cia., together with its major competitor Trasatlántica became key player on the Spanish transatlantic routes.[8] Serving as councillor in ayuntamiento[9] and with members of other Martínez de Pinillo branches acting as top local officials, Antonio became the provincial business mogul; the family grew among the most prominent ones in Cádiz.[10]

Pinillos 1906 poster

As the Martínez de Pinillos and the Izquierdo families used to intermarry, also Antonio married Aquilina Sáenz y Izquierdo.[11] It is not clear how many children the couple had, though Miguel was the only son.[12] None of the sources consulted provides information on his early schooling; he intended to join the navy, but in his teens he was sent to England to receive commercial education in London.[13] He remained in Britain until his adult years and returned to Cádiz in the early 1890s.[14] In 1900[15] he married Trinidad Toro y Gómez.[16] Living in the family residence at Plaza de Mina,[17] the couple had two children: Antonio and Carmen Martínez de Pinillos y Toro, both born prior to 1919.[18] Antonio was supposed to take over the family business until he died in a car accident in 1951.[19] It was his daughter and Miguel’s granddaughter, María Carmen Martínez de Pinillos Ceballos, who went on running the company as Naviera Pinillos. The enterprise remained in family hands until the early 1990s; at that time it was taken over by Grupo Boluda,[20] which keeps maintaining the brand.[21]

Ship-owner

Upon completing his education in England Martínez de Pinillos returned to Spain and engaged in the family business run by his father; it is not clear what roles he performed in Pinillos, Izquierdo y Cia. At that time the family enterprise was at its peak, but in the years to come it went into gradual decline. Spain’s loss of overseas holdings dramatically reduced demand for transatlantic communication in the 1900s, a series of massively tragic naval disasters shattered the company image when Príncipe de Asturias and Valbanera sank in the 1910s[22] and the post-war crisis hit the company hard in the early 1920s; as a result, Pinillos, Izquierdo y Cia shut down in 1921, selling its assets to Compañia Transoceanica de Navegación.[23]

In 1923 Miguel Martínez de Pinillos decided to re-launch the business, this time setting up his own company named Lineas Pinillos.[24] He did not resume grand oceanic activities and switched to a less ambitious, but pragmatic format.[25] Lineas Pinillos engaged in tramping and coasting trade, the latter both as cabotage and grand cabotage. In terms of geography the company focused on the Canary Islands.[26] In terms of cargo type, it specialized in fruits – mostly bananas[27] - and coal. Until the late 1920s its most typical operations were exports of fruits from the Canary Islands to Britain and return cruises to Spanish ports with the load of British coal.[28] The vessels operated also on other routes along the Atlantic Northern African coast and across the Mediterranean, calling at Moroccan, French or Italian ports.

Martínez de Pinillos was gradually assembling a fleet of merchant vessels. His default strategy relied on purchasing new ships from Spanish and foreign shipyards, mostly in the Vascongadas (Ardanaz from Baracaldo and Euskalduna from Bilbao) and in Scotland (Robert Duncan & Co in Glasgow and Caledon in Dundee), though occasionally coming from other manufacturers like the Norwegian Verksted Kristiansand.[29] To suit his tramping and cabotage pattern of service he focused on small to mid-size vessels; while in the early 1900s an average cargo ship size was 4,000 DWT,[30] most vessels which joined Lineas Pinillos were around 2,000 DWT. Though initially Martínez de Pinillos purchased late-generation steamers powered by triple expansion type engines with some 900 hp, since the mid-1920s he switched to modern diesel propulsion, offering around 1,700 hp. By 1925 the fleet consisted of 4 ships: Rio Arillo, Duero, Celta and Vasco;[31] in the late 1920s and the early 1930s it was joined by 4 sister vessels built in Bilbao: Ebro, Sil, Turia and Darro; designed as reefer ships, they already reflected the new company strategy to focus entirely on transport of fruits and other similar cargo.[32]

Other business activities

Andalusian salt ponds

Though his business focus was on merchant maritime transportation, Martínez de Pinillos remained engaged in a number of other economic activities, most of them inherited from his father; in historiography he is referred to also as „comerciante”, „industrial” and „terrateniente”.[33]

His industrial activities were related to evaporation-based salt exploitation. He was the owner of Unión Salinera; the company was dealing in all types of salt business, including crushed salt for industrial and commercial purposes and refined table salt for home use. It was based on licenses to exploit extensive salt ponds at the outskirts of Cádiz; one, named "La Tapa", was located in El Puerto de Santa María, others, named "San Félix", "San Miguel" and "Dolores", were located in Rio Arillo.[34] Martínez de Pinillos owned also salt installations on Rio Guadalete. Exact scale of the business is not clear, though it was significant at least on the Andalusian scale; Unión Salinera for years advertised in the local press and they operated own railway facilities, including an industrial spur along the Cádiz – Seville line.[35]

In the neighboring province of Seville Martínez de Pinillos possessed land estates totaling 2,625 ha,[36] all located along the banks of the Guadalquivir near Villanueva del Rio.[37] By Northern Spanish standards they were massive; also in Andalusia their size rendered Martínez de Pinillos one of the major terratenientes, though not among the largest ones; the largest national holdings exceeded 50,000 ha[38] and in the Cordoba district alone there were around 15 landholders with estates exceeding 2,500 ha.[39] As late as in the 1970s the estate, almost undiminished in size and at that time owned by Martínez de Pinillos’ daughter, was the 5th largest holding in the Seville province and the 8th largest holding in the entire Ribera de Guadalquivir.[40]

Andalusian landscape

Already in the late 19th century known in the local press as „conocido comerciante”,[41] later on Martínez de Pinillos emerged as tycoon of the provincial economy, his wealth translating into position in a number of corporative bodies, institutions and pressure groups. In the early 20th century he entered the local Cádiz Cámara de Comercio; entrusted with lobbying with central authorities in Madrid,[42] later on he grew to vice-president of the Chamber,[43] elected also vice-president of the Cádiz Liga Marítima.[44] In 1936-1942 he was president of Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Cadiz.[45] He is not known to have performed any official duties in local administration, though during his Cortes tenure he occasionally represented the Cádiz ayuntamiento in some business dealings.[46] His combined income rendered him one of wealthiest men in the area and the second taxpayer of the Cádiz province.[47] His 1930 contribution to the fiscal office was 17,831 pesetas;[48] at that time annual budget of a 50,000-inhabitant Spanish city was around 1m ptas.[49]

Politics

Miguel Primo de Rivera

Political preferences of Pinillos’ ancestors are unclear;[50] it is merely known that he was raised in a pious Catholic ambience. One authors claims he embraced an Integrist outlook,[51] information not confirmed in the Integrist press of the era.[52] Though his cousin Sebastian Martínez de Pinillos was in 1918 elected to Cortes from Cádiz on the conservative ticket,[53] none of the sources consulted refers to Miguel’s political activity during the Restauración period. Apart from high-life engagements,[54] his only non-commercial public endeavors were related to charity.[55]

Martínez de Pinillos was first noted in politics when engaged in local incarnations of the primoderiverista regime. He became member of Somatén[56] and joined Unión Patriotica, in the mid-1920s growing to vice-president of its provincial Cádiz branch.[57] In April 1925 he was offered seat in the Diputación Provincial, though it is not clear how long he performed the role.[58] In the late 1920s he was active in Patronal del Comercio, Industria y Navegación, an attempt to form a domesticated labor organization.[59] During Dictablanda he seemed leaning towards a cautious "law and order" stance, as late as in February 1931 presiding over initiatives in support of the army and Guardia Civil.[60]

During early months of the Republic Pinillos was active in a local, vaguely conservative Acción Ciudadana, in January 1932 emerging as its president.[61] The formation was leaning towards Alfonsist monarchism;[62] it hosted one of the most prestigious Acción Nacional politicians, Antonio Goicoechea.[63] In early 1933 Martínez de Pinillos was still reported vice-president,[64] but he left before AC got incorporated into CEDA.[65] Having neared the Carlists, during the 1933 electoral campaign he already represented their Comunión Tradicionalista on a coalition Frente de Derechas list. Elected,[66] he joint the Carlist minority.[67] Though he moved from Cádiz to Madrid and set up his headquarters in hotel Ritz, Martínez de Pinillos remained a passive parliamentarian. He joined Comisión de Marina[68] but did not speak a single time during the plenary chamber sessions,[69] which did not spare him mockery in Republican press.[70]

Carlist standard

Pinillos remained moderately active in Carlist realm; he is scarcely mentioned as taking part in party propaganda gatherings[71] or as active in the party structures; his most significant appointment was to Comisión de Hacienda of the Traditionalist executive.[72] His most notable high-profile event was a massively attended 1934 feast of Andalusian Carlists on the estate of Quintillo. Featured among most prominent party leaders[73] he seemed overwhelmed, as reflected in one of his few literary attempts.[74] Taking advantage of his wealth, he was rather listed among those who financially supported Carlist sport ventures,[75] Traditionalist labor organizations[76] and the party press.[77] Martínez de Pinillos is not noted as engaged in the 1936 electoral campaign; according to one source, following outbreak of the Civil War he withdrew from active politics.[78]

Last years

Republican navy

The war caught Pinillos by surprise. The rebels immediately captured Cádiz, but his ships were scattered around Spain. Almost all happened to have been in the Republican zone, and the owner lost any control over their fate. Most vessels were seized by the Republicans and officially declared taken over in October 1936.[79] Darro was renamed into Lealtad and turned into an armed merchantman; she served in few combat missions until immobilised in Marseille in early 1939.[80] Sil initially served as a prison ship, anchored at Alicante and Cartagena; in August 1936 she was site to execution of some 120 military prisoners, held aboard.[81] Together with Vasco, Turia and Duero she later resumed transport duties; some ships served the Republicans travelling as far as to Mexico.[82]

During the outbreak of hostilities Ebro was en route from Las Palmas to Sète, where she anchored on July 23. Immediately claimed by the Madrid government, she had sailed out before the French could make their mind. As the rebels lacked international recognition, in Genoa Ebro was renamed to Aniene, operated by an Italian company; it is not clear to what extent Pinillos engineered the plot. She served on supply routes from Italy until the end of war, when returned to the owner.[83] One or more vessels which remained operated by Pinillos[84] already in October 1938 were offering regular service between the Canary Islands and Andalusia;[85] the same year Pinillos bought a new ship, Tormes.[86] He strove to recover the vessels lost, raising ownership claims before port authorities in third countries. The strategy partially paid off; by mid-1938 most ships seized by the Republicans were interned in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands,[87] returned to the owner in mid-1939.[88]

After the war Martínez de Pinillos narrowed the scope of his business further on and focused entirely on transporting fruits; in 1940 he renamed the company to Compañia Marítima Frutera.[89] In the 1940s he bought larger vessels: Villafranca and Almadén exceeded 4,000 GR.[90] Some of the fleet suffered various naval incidents, e.g. in 1943 one was inflicted damage having struck a mine.[91] When running his own company Pinillos avoided tragedies which haunted him since the 1916-1919 disasters. The only ship lost was Duero, which in 1953 collided with a British tanker; she sank with no loss of life.[92]

Hospital de San Juan de Dios

Nothing is known of Pinillos political activity during early Francoism; most information referring to him in the 1940s is related to business, either to his fleet or to his saline and landholding operations.[93] Following the 1951 tragic loss of his only son, he embarked on massive charity projects. His key venture was total rehaul of Hospital de San Juan de Dios; as instead of refurbishment works it turned into constructing a new facility, the total sum donated neared 200m pesetas. Pinillos did not live to finalise the project, which was completed by his daughter Carmen. The Hospital re-opened in 1958, hosting the bust of Martinez de Pinillos in the lobby;[94] it is not clear whether the bust is still there.[95]

See also

Footnotes

  1. neither the date of his birth nor the date of his death is clear. One author claims he was born „around 1881”, see Leandro Álvarez Rey, Los Diputados por Andalucía de la Segunda República, 1931-1939: diccionario biográfico, Sevilla 2009, ISBN 9788493785505, p. 441; another one gives a precise date of November 15, 1875, see Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo, Naviera Pinillos. 1840-1990. 150 Años de Historia Marinera, Cádiz 1990, ISBN 8440481535, referred after Vida Martima service, available here. The death dates are given as 1953, see Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442, or 1954, see Marcelino Izquierdo, ‘Valbanera’, el barco fantasma de las putas (con perdón), [in:] Historias Riojanas 2012, available here
  2. Martínez de Pinillos entry [in:] blasoneshispanicos service, available here
  3. Guillermo E. Pinillos Llontop, Naviera Pinillos, [in:] Solar de Las Calderas service 2012, available here
  4. Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y Ceballos, see Martínez de Pinillos entry [in:] blasoneshispanicos service, available here
  5. Pedro Martínez de Pinillos, see Municipio de Pinillos, Parte general del plan de desarrollo municipal, available here
  6. Juan Carlos Diaz Lorenzo, Los vínculos de la Naviera Martínez de Pinillos con el puerto de Santa Cruz de la Palma, [in:] De la mar y los barcos service 2009, available here
  7. see Antonio Martínez De Pinillos Izquierdo entry at MyHeritage genealogical service, available here
  8. Diaz Lorenzo 2009
  9. El Noticiero Gaditano 30.01.26, available here
  10. Sebastian Martinez de Pinillos served as alcalde, president of the dipuatcion and Cortes deputy in the early 20th century, Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 441
  11. Pinillos Llontop 2012
  12. El Correo de Cádiz 16.09.12, available here, Conde de Villanueva thread, [in:] Heraldaria service 2009, available here
  13. Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  14. Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  15. El Guadalete 09.02.00, available here
  16. Pinillos Llontop 2012
  17. now turned into a museum, see Juan Alonso de la Sierra Fernández, Francisco Reina Fernández-Trujillo, La casa Pinillos, nuevo espacio expositivo para el museo de Cádiz, [in:] Proyectos y actuaciones 84 (2013), available here
  18. Pinillos Llontop 2012
  19. ABC 30.10.51, available here
  20. ABC 17.01.09, available here, Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here
  21. ABC 27.06.00, available here
  22. two passenger liners serving the Latin American routes and operated by the Martínez de Pinillos company were lost with massive loss of life; in 1916 Príncipe de Asturias sank off the Brazilian coast with 457 victims; it was the worst maritime disaster in Spanish history up to 1919, when Valbanera sank on the Caribbean Sea with 488 victims; the latter was the worst Spanish maritime disaster until 1939
  23. Pinillos Llontop 2012
  24. Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here
  25. Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  26. Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here
  27. Las Provincias 14.08.28, available here
  28. Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  29. Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here
  30. George Bruce, Ian Garrard, The Business of Shipbuilding, New York 2013, ISBN 9781317696889, p. 2
  31. Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  32. detailed discussion of the ship design and performance in Motonaves refrigeradas Ebro y Sil, [in:] Vida Maritima service 2007, available here
  33. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 441
  34. Tradición 01.07.34, available here
  35. Juan Peris Torner, Ferrocarril de la Unión Salinera – Salinas de La Tapa, [in:] Ferrocariles de Espana service 2012, available here Archived 2016-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
  36. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442
  37. Rafael Mata Olmo, Transformación en regadío y evolución de la gran explotación agraria: el ejemplo de la Depresión del Guadalquivir, [in:] Agricultura y sociedad 32 (1984), p. 211
  38. theas late as in 1919 duque de Peñaranda possessed 51,000 ha, Antonio Manuel Moral Roncal, Aristocracia y poder económico en la España del siglo XX, [in:] Vegueta 7 (2003), p. 157
  39. see La gran propiedad rústica a mediadod del siglo XIX, available here, pp. 80-81
  40. Mata Olmo 1984, p. 211
  41. El Guadalete 22.05.97, available here
  42. El Aguila 22.11.10, available here
  43. El Correo de Cádiz 27.09.12, available here
  44. El Correo de Cádiz 27.01.12, available here
  45. Manfred Pohl, Handbook on the History of European Banks, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 9781781954218, p. 955
  46. El Noticiero Gaditano 14.01.33, available here
  47. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442
  48. El Noticiero Gaditano 25.02.30, available here, El Noticiero Gaditano 28.07.30, here
  49. e.g. the annual budget of Almeria was around 1,1m ptas in the 1920s, Pedro Martínez Gómez, La dictadura de Primo de Rivera en Almería (1923-1930). Nuevas leyes para un nuevo régimen, Almeria 2006, ISBN 9788482407906, p. 185
  50. except vague suggestions that they were probably leaning towards the Conservatives; El Siglo Futuro 12.09.98, available here
  51. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442
  52. compare search in the Integrist daily El Siglo Futuro, available here
  53. see the official Cortes service, available here
  54. El Correo de Cádiz 16.09.12, available here
  55. El Noticiero Gaditano 18.12.29, available here
  56. El Noticiero Gaditano 05.02.24, available here
  57. El Noticiero Gaditano 24.11.24, available here
  58. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442
  59. El Noticiero Gaditano 09.04.28, available here
  60. El Noticiero Gaditano 05.02.31, available , La Vanguardia 26.12.30, available here
  61. El Noticiero Gaditano 11.07.32, available here
  62. "partido de los monárquicos alfonsinos de Cádiz", José Aquiles Pettenghi Lachambre, Detrás del silencio: el trágico destino de los gobernadores civiles de Cádiz en la II República, Jerez de la Frontera 2009, ISBN 9788493679903, p. 106
  63. La Vanguardia 01.03.32, available here, Pettenghi Lachambre 2009, p. 62
  64. Pettenghi Lachambre 2009, p. 95
  65. Pettenghi Lachambre 2009, p. 106
  66. see the official Cortes service, available here; another Carlist elected from the province was Juan José Palomino Jiménez
  67. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 442
  68. Álvarez Rey 2009, pp. 442-3
  69. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 443
  70. La Libertad 18.04.35, available here
  71. in an album acknowledging the centenary of Carlism, issued in 1933, Pinillos was only briefly noted and unlike many other Carlist MPs, he did not earn a biography, see Album Histórico del Carlismo 1833-1933, Barcelona 1935
  72. Robert Vallverdú i Martí, El Carlisme Català Durant La Segona República Espanyola 1931-1936, Barcelona 2008, ISBN 9788478260805, p. 276
  73. Pinillos formed presidency of the meeting, with José Luis Zamanillo, Luis Arellano, Jesús Comín, José María Lamamié, Ginés Martínez, Domingo Tejera, Victor Pradera and Manuel Fal Conde
  74. "Primavera andaluza…, sol sevillano…, un prado inmenso sembrado de amapolas…, libélulas que lo cruzan raudas en todas direcciones… En el centro del prado, una sevillana rubia, como espiga de oro, sostiene una bandera cuyo mástil termina en una Cruz de plata que brilla con destellos luminosos. Las amapolas forman grupos que avanzan, retroceden, se fraccionan…; las libélulas son de acero, y siguen los movimientos de las flores. Las anima el mismo espíritu. ¿Es un sueño? Es… España que se levanta a cerrar las puertas de las cárceles y los manicomios, que ha dejado abiertas la República", see Tradición 01.05.34, available here
  75. El Siglo Futuro 09.01.36, available here
  76. El Siglo Futuro 31.01.36, available here
  77. Tradición 01.01.35, available here
  78. Álvarez Rey 2009, p. 443
  79. Carlos Mey Martínez, Pinillos Line, [in:] Historia y Arquelogia Marítima service, available here, Boletín oficial de la provincia de Santander 09.12.36, available here
  80. Motonaves Darro y Turia. La exportación frutera en España, [in:] Vida Marítima service 2008, available here
  81. Francisco Alía Miranda, Conspiración y alzamiento: principales modelos en Castilla-La Mancha, [in:] Francisco Alía Miranda, Angel Ramón del Valle Calzado, La Guerra Civil en Castilla-La Mancha, 70 años después, Murcia 2008, ISBN 9788484275558, pp. 348, 387. Another source gives the number of 300 executed, see Motonaves refrigeradas Ebro y Sil, [in:] Vida Maritima service 2007, available here
  82. Jose Guezuraga, El vapor Vasco y un apunte sobre Lineas Pinillos, [in:] Vida Marítima service 2010, available here
  83. Juan Luis Coello Lillo, La motonave Ebro y la guerra civil española, [in:] Vida Marítima service 2009, available here
  84. none of them identified
  85. La Prensa 15.10.38, available here
  86. Naviera Pinillos (2), [in:] buques.org service, available here
  87. Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here, Heraldo de Zamora 23.09.37, available here
  88. Naviera Pinillos entry, [in:] buques.org service, available here, Díaz Lorenzo 1990, referred after Vida Marítima service, available here
  89. Naviera Pinillos (1), [in:] buques.org service available here
  90. ABC 31.05.46, available here
  91. laid by a German submarine on the Mediterranean, Naviera Pinillos (2), [in:] buques.org service, available here
  92. tanker in the straits of Gibraltar; Naviera Pinillos (2), [in:] buques.org service, available here
  93. ABC 16.02.49, available here
  94. Diario de Cadiz 06.11.58, referred after memoria de cadiz site Archived 2016-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  95. the memory of "Miguel Martínez de Pinillos" is honored by a street in downtown Cadiz, though it is not clear whether the name refers to the grandfather or the grandson

Further reading

  • Leandro Álvarez Rey, Los Diputados por Andalucía de la Segunda República, 1931-1939: diccionario biográfico, Sevilla 2009, ISBN 9788493785505
  • Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo, Naviera Pinillos. 1840-1990. 150 Años de Historia Marinera, Cádiz 1990, ISBN 8440481535
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