The Baron Mayor of Barcelona who created the embryo of Barça Atlètic

On January 1, 1947, the Argentine team San Lorenzo de Almagro put on a magnificent display of football at Les Corts stadium, defeating the Spanish national team by a shocking 5-7. It sparked dreams of the future. The match was so significant that the following day, The Vanguard dedicated the cover to him. The date of the event, New Year's Day, meant that the mayor of Barcelona couldn't attend the event, and José Ribas Seva made it his own, assuming it was accidental. Six months later, another Argentine expedition set foot in the Catalan capital: it was none other than the official visit of María Eva Duarte de Perón. Avoid, the first lady of Argentina. On this occasion, the host was the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Josep Maria de Albert Despujol, Baron of Terrades.

A member of a family belonging to the high Catalan nobility, Albert completed his higher education in Switzerland, and even at that time it was clear that he was destined for great responsibilities throughout his life. In 1909, he married María del Carmen Muntadas Estruch, heiress to one of the most important family businesses ever to exist in Catalonia, the legendary España Industrial. With the marriage, he became Count Consort of Santa Maria de Sants. She was the daughter of Matías Muntadas Rovira, at that time Managing Director of the company his ancestors had founded in 1847. Precisely when Matías Muntadas died (1927), Albert was promoted to CEO of the company, a position he never relinquished. During his tenure at the head of the company, he was characterized by his promotion of social action, an activity that materialized in the creation of a childcare center, a workers' cafeteria, a medical service for workers, and various sports facilities. He was what is known as a paternalistic businessman. In 1934, the company created a football team that eleven years later would become a subsidiary of FC Barcelona and the embryo of the future Barça Atlètic.

After the Civil War, he began to accumulate positions, largely thanks to his good relations with the Franco regime. In addition to some responsibilities in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in 1941 he was appointed president of Foment del Treball, after having served as vice president of the Baró de Quadras since before the war. He was vice president of the Executive Committee of the Trade Fair (now Fira de Barcelona) and also chaired the company Lámparas Z, founded in 1897 by his father-in-law's brother, Lluís Muntadas Rovira. This company had been integrated into the Dutch company Philips in 1920. It also led Comercial Mecanográfica, a subsidiary of Hispano Olivetti.

The Italian-Catalan company also had a connection to the Muntadas family, having been founded in 1929 by the entrepreneur Juli Caparà Marquès, who was married to the daughter of the aforementioned Lluís Muntadas. When Josep Maria de Albert Despujol took over Comercial Mecanográfica, the magnificent plant on Gran Vía, next to the Plaza de les Glòries, already existed, a large complex that operated until 1991. Just as the war ended, the businessman helped found what was then a strategic company for the forests of Cantabria. The company operated until 2020, when the process of closure and liquidation began. It had long been surrounded by great controversy due to its potential risk of pollution.

We link to the beginning of this text, because in 1945 Albert was appointed mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​replacing Miquel Mateu Pla. His term extended until 1951 and he left a good handful of relevant works: the Castelldefels highway (called "motorway" at the time), the extension of Metro Line 1, the construction and expansion of some hospitals, and the openings of the Museu Marès and the Saló del Tin.

Such activity in all areas earned him wide recognition, such as the Medal for Merit at Work (1942), and the Grand Crosses of Isabella the Catholic, for Naval Merit and that of the Order of the Crown of Italy. He was also a Saada of the Order of the Mehdauia and a knight counselor of the Royal Corps of the Nobility of Catalonia.