José de Salamanca, 1st Count of los Llanos
Encyclopedia
José de Salamanca y Mayol, 1st Marquis of Salamanca and 1st Count of los Llanos, Grandee of Spain (23 May 1811, Málaga
– 21 January 1883, Madrid
) was a Spanish
noble
, politician
and businessman. He served as Finance Minister of Spain
and briefly as de facto prime minister
in 1847.
Prominent during the reign of Isabella II
, he was responsible for an extension to the city of Madrid
; the Salamanca neighborhood
of that city now bears his name. He had an adventurous life with many ups and downs. At one time he probably had the largest fortune in Spain. His prominent associates included Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
, queen mother
and regent
for the young Queen Isabella. As a businessman, he undertook many projects that shaped modern Spain: railways, construction of entire neighborhoods, banking and investments; at the same time, he was associated with no small amount of political
and corporate corruption.
and law
at the Colegio de San Bartolomé y Santiago in Granada
, finishing his studies in 1828. It was probably in Granada that he first met groups opposed to the absolutist
regime of Ferdinand VII, including Mariana Pineda, who became a martyr for the Spanish liberals
when she was tried and condemned to death in 1831.
Shortly after his return to his native Málaga
, the liberal general José María Torrijos was detained for an attempted coup. Salamanca was probably involved in the coup; he went to Madrid in an unsuccessful attempt to seek a royal pardon for Torrijos. His revolutionary ardor was calmed for a time and, thanks to his father's friendship with Cea Bermúdez, the President of the Council of Ministers (effectively, prime minister), he was made mayor of Monóvar, (province of Alicante) in 1833.
That year Ferdinand VII died, bringing to power his wife, Maria Christina, as regent for the three-year-old queen Isabella II. The revolutionary movements of the regency era first propelled the future marquess onto the national scene. In 1835 he was named mayor of Vera
(province of Almería); while there he married Petronila Livermore y Salas. After serving as mayor of Vera, he was chosen to represent the province of Almería in the Revolutionary Government at Seville
.
In 1837 the Mutiny of La Granja de San Ildefonso forced Maria Christina to restore the liberal Constitution of 1812
, which was elaborated into the new Progressive
Constitution of 1837
. Salamanca was elected deputy
for Málaga
in the new Cortes
, which brought him to the capital, Madrid
to serve in this office.
, in 1839 he obtained the official monopoly
on salt
, and began also to invest in the Bolsa de Madrid
(Madrid Stock Exchange). He became a prominent figure in the highest circles of Madrid society. Among his associates over the next few years were Nazario Carriquiri, Alejandro Aguado, Gaspar Remisa, José Buschenthal, Agustín Muñoz and the Rothschilds'
agents in Madrid, Daniel Weisweiller and Ignacio Bauer. His possession of the salt monopoly, however, gained him the enmity, for the time, of General Ramón María Narváez.
As well as achieving such prominence (if not always honor and success) in business, his political star was also on the rise. On 28 March 1847 he was named Finance Minister of Spain
in the government of Joaquín Francisco Pacheco; when the government fell in October of that year, he was briefly the de facto president of the Council of Ministers (that is, effectively, de facto prime minister), but was displaced by Florencio García Goyena
, as parliament began investigating the alleged financial irregularities of his ministry.
Salamanca had been saved from his own disastrous stock speculations when Francisco Serrano Domínguez convinced Isabella II to make him Minister of Finance. Queen Isabella soon sacked the entire council of ministers, establishing a new government under General Narváez, the third time in four years that Narváez had been president of the Council of Ministers. As Salamanca's favors to his friends became public knowledge, he consorted with various generals who were plotting to overthrow the government. Narváez's solidification of power sent Salamanca into exile in France
, where he remained until 1849.
Five years later, he was in exile again, characterized as a bestia negra ("black beast") by the new Progressive government that swept to power in June and July 1854 on the wings of unrest, ending the década moderada
and beginning the bienio progresista
.
Long before the end of the bienio progresista Salamanca was back in Spain, and in 1856 when Moderates regained power, Salamanca returned to favor and was given the title of senator for life
.
(1844) and the Bank de Cádiz (1846) Upon returning from his first exile he earned close to 300 million reales
by renting out the state salt monopoly for five years. This amount was twice what he had earned since obtaining this monopoly. Not for the first time, he restored his relations with Narváez. Narváez and Agustin Fernando Muñoz (Marquess of Riánsares and second husband of the queen mother Maria Christina) came to be his partners in a number of subsequent business ventures.
Salamanca distinguished himself in the construction of the neighborhood of Madrid that now bears his name. This was the first phase of the expansion of Madrid proposed by Carlos María de Castro.. One of his last business ventures was a similar expansion of San Sebastián
in 1881.
The construction of the line put Salamanca through some economic difficulties, and coincided with the financial crisis of 1846, not to mention Salamanca's failure at the Bank of Isabella II and a fall from grace that sent him into exile in France for 16 months, but finally the line was successfully completed and began service on 7 February 1851. Queen Isabella II presided over the opening of the line and more than a thousand invitees enjoyed a generous party at Salamanca's personal expense. Three months later, the line was bringing in 50,000 reales every day. On 13 August 1852, Salamanca sold the line to the state for 60.2 million reales, then rented it back for 1,500,000 reales a year.
Today, that route is part of the line from Madrid to Alcázar de San Juan
, where it divides into a route to Andalusia
and one to the Spanish Levante
. A Sunday tourist train, the Tren de la Fresa ("Strawberry Train") keeps alive the nickname earned by the Madrid-Aranjuez line in its early years. The present-da Aranjuez station is located at a small distance from the original terminus immediately at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.
Salamanca also invested in railways from Madrid to Irún
, Córdoba
to Málaga
, and from Aranjuez to the Mediterranean
; his investments were not limited to Spain. They extended throughout Europe
and the Americas, including the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
in New York State, Pennsylvania
, and Ohio
: hence the name of the small city of Salamanca
in western New York and its surrounding township
.
—Spain's largest stock exchange—saw a series of enthusiastic sessions. Optimism reigned at the stability provided by the government of Narvaez. However, after several days of analysis, Salamanca began to sell short in a seemingly clumsy strategy.
The reality was something else entirely: taking advantage of his privileged position in public affairs, Salamanca know that several generals were considering a coup. He also knew that Narváez was maintaining a correspondence with some of them, intending to get them to drop the plan.
When the news arrived General Martín Zurbano
had risen up in rebellion in Nájera
, Salamanca and his associates trumpeted the news with the clear intent of sowing panic. The stock exchange, sensitive as always to any abrupt change in public affairs, plummeted, and Salamanca profited by some 30 million reales in a single day. Fernando Muñoz and General Narváez each received 2 million.
remains the great stain on Salamanca's reputation. The bank was his idea, and he convinced the queen to establish it. Founded in 1844, it was to be an institution more or less on a par with the Bank of San Fernando
. It was founded with capital of 100 million
reales, which it distributed generously as credit among Spain's emerging capitalist investors.
Although the bank was never a financial success, Salamanca used its capital to make purchases, such as 71-block lot purchased from María Luisa de Borbón, paid for with a check for 1 million reales drawn on the bank. When the time came that the check had to be made good, Salamanca turned to Queen Isabella, who owed money to the bank. However, she insisted on paying the debt with her shares in the Madrid-Aranjuez railway, shares for which she had paid 4 million reales, but which were by this time practically worthless.
The bank was ultimately rescued by being merged into the Bank of San Fernando, forming the basis for the Bank of Spain.
n.º 10 is owned today by the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
and is used for art exhibitions.
However, he was not without other palaces. He owned the Palacio de Vista Alegre in Carabanchel Bajo
, the Palacio de Buena Esperanza en Carabanchel Alto
, and another in Aranjuez. He also owned extensive land in Los Llanos, the Palacio de Mitra in Lisbon
, a hôtel particulier
in Paris
and rented a palace in Rome
, each with an army of servants.
After the Sexenio Democrático (the years 1868–1974, including the years of the First Spanish Republic
), in 1879 he won the right to build the Canal del Duero to bring potable water to Valladolid
, which did not succeed in restoring his fortune.
He died at Carabanchel Bajo in 1883, 6 million reales in debt. In the course of a life of luxury and sybaritic extremes, José de Salamanca had been a lawyer, conspirator, mayor, judge, banker, underwriter of public works, theatrical impresario, director of businesses, engineer, agriculturalist, livestock rancher, government minister, senator, deputy, marquess, count, and Grandee of Spain.
There are streets named after Salamanca in Talayuela
, Navalmoral de la Mata
, Torremolinos
, and Castellón de la Plana
. In San Sebastián
there is a street called the Paseo de Salamanca in his honor. In Madrid, a neighborhood and a plaza bear his name. The plaza was designed by municipal architect Pablo Aranda, who also designed the pedestal for his statue in the plaza. Salamanca
in western New York and its surrounding township
were named after him.
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
– 21 January 1883, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and businessman. He served as Finance Minister of Spain
Ministry of Economy and Finance (Spain)
The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the Ministry of Economic affairs and Second Vice President of the Government of SpainThis Ministry is in charge of the development, proposal and execution of the economical policy of the government, specially of the State Budgets, the control of Public...
and briefly as de facto prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
in 1847.
Prominent during the reign of Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
, he was responsible for an extension to the city of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
; the Salamanca neighborhood
Salamanca (Madrid)
Salamanca is one of the 21 districts that form the city of Madrid, Spain. Salamanca is located to the northeast of the historical center of Madrid.-Overview:...
of that city now bears his name. He had an adventurous life with many ups and downs. At one time he probably had the largest fortune in Spain. His prominent associates included Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was Queen consort of Spain and Regent of Spain .-Early years and first marriage:...
, queen mother
Queen mother
Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577...
and regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
for the young Queen Isabella. As a businessman, he undertook many projects that shaped modern Spain: railways, construction of entire neighborhoods, banking and investments; at the same time, he was associated with no small amount of political
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and corporate corruption.
Youth, student and mayor
Salamanca studied philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the Colegio de San Bartolomé y Santiago in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, finishing his studies in 1828. It was probably in Granada that he first met groups opposed to the absolutist
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
regime of Ferdinand VII, including Mariana Pineda, who became a martyr for the Spanish liberals
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
when she was tried and condemned to death in 1831.
Shortly after his return to his native Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, the liberal general José María Torrijos was detained for an attempted coup. Salamanca was probably involved in the coup; he went to Madrid in an unsuccessful attempt to seek a royal pardon for Torrijos. His revolutionary ardor was calmed for a time and, thanks to his father's friendship with Cea Bermúdez, the President of the Council of Ministers (effectively, prime minister), he was made mayor of Monóvar, (province of Alicante) in 1833.
That year Ferdinand VII died, bringing to power his wife, Maria Christina, as regent for the three-year-old queen Isabella II. The revolutionary movements of the regency era first propelled the future marquess onto the national scene. In 1835 he was named mayor of Vera
Vera, Spain
-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería - Vera town information....
(province of Almería); while there he married Petronila Livermore y Salas. After serving as mayor of Vera, he was chosen to represent the province of Almería in the Revolutionary Government at Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
In 1837 the Mutiny of La Granja de San Ildefonso forced Maria Christina to restore the liberal Constitution of 1812
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
, which was elaborated into the new Progressive
Progressive Party (Spain)
The Progressive Party was one of the two Spanish political parties that contended for power during the reign of Isabel II . They were to the left of the opposing Moderate Party , but also characterized themselves as liberal...
Constitution of 1837
Spanish Constitution of 1837
The Spanish Constitution of 1837 was the constitution of Spain from 1837 to 1845. Its principal legacy was to restore the most progressive features of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and to entrench the concepts of constitutionalism, parliamentarism, and separation of powers in Spain.-...
. Salamanca was elected deputy
Deputy (legislator)
A deputy is a legislator in many countries, particularly those with legislatures styled as a 'Chamber of Deputies' or 'National Assembly'.-List of countries:This is an list of countries using the term 'deputy' or one of its cognates....
for Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
in the new Cortes
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
, which brought him to the capital, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
to serve in this office.
Deputy, minister, and exile
Once in Madrid, Salamanca developed a great inclination toward business, which would bring him both great successes and great difficulties. After serving briefly as a judge in a Madrid court of first instanceTrial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...
, in 1839 he obtained the official monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, and began also to invest in the Bolsa de Madrid
Bolsa de Madrid
Bolsa de Madrid is the largest and most international of Spain's four regional stock exchanges that trade shares and convertible bonds and fixed income securities, and both government and private-sector debt...
(Madrid Stock Exchange). He became a prominent figure in the highest circles of Madrid society. Among his associates over the next few years were Nazario Carriquiri, Alejandro Aguado, Gaspar Remisa, José Buschenthal, Agustín Muñoz and the Rothschilds'
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
agents in Madrid, Daniel Weisweiller and Ignacio Bauer. His possession of the salt monopoly, however, gained him the enmity, for the time, of General Ramón María Narváez.
As well as achieving such prominence (if not always honor and success) in business, his political star was also on the rise. On 28 March 1847 he was named Finance Minister of Spain
Ministry of Economy and Finance (Spain)
The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the Ministry of Economic affairs and Second Vice President of the Government of SpainThis Ministry is in charge of the development, proposal and execution of the economical policy of the government, specially of the State Budgets, the control of Public...
in the government of Joaquín Francisco Pacheco; when the government fell in October of that year, he was briefly the de facto president of the Council of Ministers (that is, effectively, de facto prime minister), but was displaced by Florencio García Goyena
Florencio García Goyena
Florencio García Goyena was a Spanish jurist.García Goyena studied law in Madrid and Salamanca before serving as legal counsel to the Cortes of Navarra and the governors of the provinces of Léon, Granada and Zaragoza. A liberal, he went into French exile from 1823 to 1834...
, as parliament began investigating the alleged financial irregularities of his ministry.
Salamanca had been saved from his own disastrous stock speculations when Francisco Serrano Domínguez convinced Isabella II to make him Minister of Finance. Queen Isabella soon sacked the entire council of ministers, establishing a new government under General Narváez, the third time in four years that Narváez had been president of the Council of Ministers. As Salamanca's favors to his friends became public knowledge, he consorted with various generals who were plotting to overthrow the government. Narváez's solidification of power sent Salamanca into exile in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he remained until 1849.
Five years later, he was in exile again, characterized as a bestia negra ("black beast") by the new Progressive government that swept to power in June and July 1854 on the wings of unrest, ending the década moderada
Década moderada
In the history of Spain, the década moderada was the period from May 1844 to July 1854, during which the Moderate Party continuously held power.-Rise to power:...
and beginning the bienio progresista
Bienio progresista
In the history of Spain, the Bienio progresista was the two-year period from July 1854 to July 1856, during which the Progressive Party attempted to reform the political system of the reign of Isabella II, which had been dominated by the Moderate Party since 1843 in the so-called Década moderada...
.
Long before the end of the bienio progresista Salamanca was back in Spain, and in 1856 when Moderates regained power, Salamanca returned to favor and was given the title of senator for life
Senator for life
A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , 7 Italian Senators out of 322, 4 out of the 47 Burundian Senators and all members of the British House of Lords have lifetime tenure...
.
Businessman
During the 42 years of his life that Salamanca spent in Madrid, Salamanca had a major career as a financier and businessman. It is for this that he is most remembered. He was a founder of the Bank of Isabella IIBank of Isabella II
The Bank of Isabella II was a financial institution in Spain, created by a Royal Decree of 25 January 1844 as a bank that, together with the Bank of San Fernando, began the process of establishing a Spanish banking apparatus adequate for industrialization and the transformation from feudalism to...
(1844) and the Bank de Cádiz (1846) Upon returning from his first exile he earned close to 300 million reales
Spanish real
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...
by renting out the state salt monopoly for five years. This amount was twice what he had earned since obtaining this monopoly. Not for the first time, he restored his relations with Narváez. Narváez and Agustin Fernando Muñoz (Marquess of Riánsares and second husband of the queen mother Maria Christina) came to be his partners in a number of subsequent business ventures.
Salamanca distinguished himself in the construction of the neighborhood of Madrid that now bears his name. This was the first phase of the expansion of Madrid proposed by Carlos María de Castro.. One of his last business ventures was a similar expansion of San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
in 1881.
Railways
Salamanca also invested in railways, beginning the construction of the line from Madrid to Aranjuez. On 24 December 1845 the Sociedad del Ferrocarril de Madrid a Aranjuez (Madrid-Aranjuez Railway Company) was established with a capital of 45 million reales. This time his partners were the banker Nazario Carriquiri and the Count of Retamoso, Maria Christina's brother-in-law.The construction of the line put Salamanca through some economic difficulties, and coincided with the financial crisis of 1846, not to mention Salamanca's failure at the Bank of Isabella II and a fall from grace that sent him into exile in France for 16 months, but finally the line was successfully completed and began service on 7 February 1851. Queen Isabella II presided over the opening of the line and more than a thousand invitees enjoyed a generous party at Salamanca's personal expense. Three months later, the line was bringing in 50,000 reales every day. On 13 August 1852, Salamanca sold the line to the state for 60.2 million reales, then rented it back for 1,500,000 reales a year.
Today, that route is part of the line from Madrid to Alcázar de San Juan
Alcázar de San Juan
Alcázar de San Juan is a town and municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain...
, where it divides into a route to Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
and one to the Spanish Levante
Levante, Spain
The Levante is a name used to refer to the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It roughly corresponds to the former Xarq Al-Andalus, but has no modern geopolitical definition...
. A Sunday tourist train, the Tren de la Fresa ("Strawberry Train") keeps alive the nickname earned by the Madrid-Aranjuez line in its early years. The present-da Aranjuez station is located at a small distance from the original terminus immediately at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.
Salamanca also invested in railways from Madrid to Irún
Irun
Irun is a town of the Bidasoa-Txingudi region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain...
, Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
to Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, and from Aranjuez to the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
; his investments were not limited to Spain. They extended throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Americas, including the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads: the Erie and New York City Railroad based in Jamestown, New York; the Meadville Railroad based in Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and the Franklin and Warren Railroad based in Franklin Mills, Ohio...
in New York State, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
: hence the name of the small city of Salamanca
Salamanca (city), New York
Salamanca is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, located inside the Allegany Indian Reservation. The population was 6,097 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
in western New York and its surrounding township
Salamanca (town), New York
Salamanca is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 544 at the 2000 census. The name is from a major investor in a local railroad....
.
Panic at the Bolsa de Madrid
In autumn 1844, the Bolsa de MadridBolsa de Madrid
Bolsa de Madrid is the largest and most international of Spain's four regional stock exchanges that trade shares and convertible bonds and fixed income securities, and both government and private-sector debt...
—Spain's largest stock exchange—saw a series of enthusiastic sessions. Optimism reigned at the stability provided by the government of Narvaez. However, after several days of analysis, Salamanca began to sell short in a seemingly clumsy strategy.
The reality was something else entirely: taking advantage of his privileged position in public affairs, Salamanca know that several generals were considering a coup. He also knew that Narváez was maintaining a correspondence with some of them, intending to get them to drop the plan.
When the news arrived General Martín Zurbano
Martín Zurbano
Martín Zurbano Baras was a Spanish military figure. A guerrilla leader, he is considered a "martyr to Spanish liberty"....
had risen up in rebellion in Nájera
Nájera
Nájera is a small town located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, Spain on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the Way of St James.-History:...
, Salamanca and his associates trumpeted the news with the clear intent of sowing panic. The stock exchange, sensitive as always to any abrupt change in public affairs, plummeted, and Salamanca profited by some 30 million reales in a single day. Fernando Muñoz and General Narváez each received 2 million.
The failed Bank of Isabella II
The 1844 panic may have been "very 'salty'", but the Bank of Isabella IIBank of Isabella II
The Bank of Isabella II was a financial institution in Spain, created by a Royal Decree of 25 January 1844 as a bank that, together with the Bank of San Fernando, began the process of establishing a Spanish banking apparatus adequate for industrialization and the transformation from feudalism to...
remains the great stain on Salamanca's reputation. The bank was his idea, and he convinced the queen to establish it. Founded in 1844, it was to be an institution more or less on a par with the Bank of San Fernando
Bank of San Fernando
The Bank of San Fernando was a financial institution created in Spain in 1829 at the initiative of Finance Minister Luis López Ballesteros, replacing the old Bank of San Carlos...
. It was founded with capital of 100 million
reales, which it distributed generously as credit among Spain's emerging capitalist investors.
Although the bank was never a financial success, Salamanca used its capital to make purchases, such as 71-block lot purchased from María Luisa de Borbón, paid for with a check for 1 million reales drawn on the bank. When the time came that the check had to be made good, Salamanca turned to Queen Isabella, who owed money to the bank. However, she insisted on paying the debt with her shares in the Madrid-Aranjuez railway, shares for which she had paid 4 million reales, but which were by this time practically worthless.
The bank was ultimately rescued by being merged into the Bank of San Fernando, forming the basis for the Bank of Spain.
Financial decline
From 1860 onward, Salamanca's career began to decline due to a series of unsuccessful undertakings. He was already far past his financial prime when the queen named him Marquess of Salamanca in 1863 and Count of los Llanosin 1864; the latter title made him a Grandee of Spain. Not long after this he was forced to sell his Madrid palace, one of the most elegant and best built of the era. The building at what is now Paseo de RecoletosPaseo de Recoletos
Paseo de Recoletos is a wide boulevard in central Madrid leading from Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza de Colón.From West to East it consists of:* Two southward lanes* The pedestrian walk* A southward Bus lane* Three southward lanes...
n.º 10 is owned today by the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. is a multinational Spanish banking group. It was formed in 1999 from the merger of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and Argentaria, both of which in turn had previously amalgamated three important banks in Spain, namely Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, Banco Exterior de...
and is used for art exhibitions.
However, he was not without other palaces. He owned the Palacio de Vista Alegre in Carabanchel Bajo
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district in the south western suburbs of Madrid, Spain.-Overview:The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the Spanish Civil War -especially in November 1936, during the Battle of Madrid, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unacustomed to street...
, the Palacio de Buena Esperanza en Carabanchel Alto
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district in the south western suburbs of Madrid, Spain.-Overview:The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the Spanish Civil War -especially in November 1936, during the Battle of Madrid, when Nationalist troops tried to fight their way into the area. Unacustomed to street...
, and another in Aranjuez. He also owned extensive land in Los Llanos, the Palacio de Mitra in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, a hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and rented a palace in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, each with an army of servants.
After the Sexenio Democrático (the years 1868–1974, including the years of the First Spanish Republic
First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
), in 1879 he won the right to build the Canal del Duero to bring potable water to Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
, which did not succeed in restoring his fortune.
He died at Carabanchel Bajo in 1883, 6 million reales in debt. In the course of a life of luxury and sybaritic extremes, José de Salamanca had been a lawyer, conspirator, mayor, judge, banker, underwriter of public works, theatrical impresario, director of businesses, engineer, agriculturalist, livestock rancher, government minister, senator, deputy, marquess, count, and Grandee of Spain.
There are streets named after Salamanca in Talayuela
Talayuela
Talayuela is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, .Talayuela's name comes from "atalayuela", related to the Spanish word "Atalaya", which means "watch tower".-Geography:...
, Navalmoral de la Mata
Navalmoral de la Mata
Navalmoral de la Mata is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, western Spain. In 2009, the municipality had a population of 17,228 inhabitants.-History:...
, Torremolinos
Torremolinos
Torremolinos is a municipality on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean, immediately to the west of the city of Málaga, in the province of Málaga in the autonomous region of Andalusia in southern Spain...
, and Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana or Castelló de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castelló, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea...
. In San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
there is a street called the Paseo de Salamanca in his honor. In Madrid, a neighborhood and a plaza bear his name. The plaza was designed by municipal architect Pablo Aranda, who also designed the pedestal for his statue in the plaza. Salamanca
Salamanca (city), New York
Salamanca is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States, located inside the Allegany Indian Reservation. The population was 6,097 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
in western New York and its surrounding township
Salamanca (town), New York
Salamanca is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 544 at the 2000 census. The name is from a major investor in a local railroad....
were named after him.