Juan March Ordinas

Juan Alberto March Ordinas (1880–1962), also known as Joan March i Ordinas, was a Spanish financier and British agent on the side of Francisco Franco's forces during and after the Spanish Civil War.

He was born in Santa Margalida on the island of Majorca, and initially he was involved with the business of smuggling tobacco between North Africa and Spain. During World War I, he was supplying goods to ships of both sides, avoiding the blockade.

His power and influence increased during different Spanish governments during the reign of King Alfonso XIII. Convicted and imprisoned by the Second Spanish Republic, he organised an escape to Gibraltar where he would be protected by his status as British agent. Later, he became a main organiser and financer of the military rebellion against the Spanish Republic, personally financing the Italian planes that carried the colonial troops from Spanish Morocco to Southern Spain, and even organizing the flight of the Dragon Rapide - Franco's aerial transport - from the Canary Islands to Morocco in order to lead the coup.

In 1926 he created the Banca March and after World War II, he was the seventh richest man in the world. In February 1948, through various contacts, he managed to buy the power company Barcelona Traction (worth 10 million pounds sterling) for approximately half million pounds. In 1944 he started the promotion of Don Juan de Borbón, who had turned pro-Allied, to the Spanish throne. He also had investments in newspapers and political parties.

According to recently declassified documents, during 1941 it was decided to create a hostile attitude toward Spain's entry into the World War through gifts of money. A group of the top Spanish generals was approached by March, and his arguments were supported by a sum of US$10,000,000 put at their disposal by Winston Churchill's government.

He created an art foundation named after himself in 1955.

References

*Manuel de Benavides, "El último pirata del mediterraneo", Tipografía Cosmos, Barcelona,1934
*Ramon Garriga, "Juan March y su tiempo", Ed. Planeta, Barcelona, 1976
*Bernardo Diaz Nosty, "La Irresistible ascensión de Juan March", SEDMAY ediciones, Madrid, 1977
*Pere Ferrer Guasp, "Joan March, la cara oculta del poder", Edicions Cort, Palma-Illes Balears,2004

External Links

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872292-1,00.html "Iberian Croesus"] , TIME magazine, 14 April 1961.
* [http://www.march.es Fundación Juan March]