The Catalan who got rich from Cuban cigars and sugar

The Catalan imprint on the Caribbean over the centuries was so profound that some surnames are still recognized brands today, as is the case of the rum makers Facundo Bacardí and Andreu Brugal, both from Sitges, or the Havana cigar producer Jaume Partagàs, from Arenys de Mar. But these names do not end the list of Catalan entrepreneurs who left their mark, because the case of Josep Gener Batet, born in L'Arboç del Penedès and son of a boatman who supplied his products to alcohol exporters to America, is also very relevant.

Today, in Cuba, the Gener surname is remembered as a great cigar manufacturer under the La Escepción brand, thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of this son of the Penedès region, who embarked for the Antilles at a very young age. Faced with his parents' difficulties supporting their ten children, they sent young José to Cuba to work with his uncle, who was established. In the province of Pinar del Río, his uncle's circle was mostly made up of Catalans who had crossed the Atlantic in search of fortune, and one of them was precisely Partagàs, whom we mentioned earlier and who would soon achieve great success with his cigars. The entire group was under the protection of Joan Conill Pi, a prominent figure in the area with origins also in Arenys de Mar. For fifteen years, Gener learned all the secrets of cigar making under the mastery of the aforementioned Conejo, who also handed over his business to Partagàs so he could start a factory that would eventually become a symbol of the highest quality.

Enero's first steps as an entrepreneur took place in 1850, when he used his savings to purchase a large farm and began growing tobacco. His main client was his protector, Joan Conill, the island's wholesaler. The crisis in the tobacco market in 1864 forced him to rethink his strategy, so from that moment on, he modified his strategy and created his own cigar-producing company, La Escepción (the brand's unusual spelling has been a subject of ongoing debate for many years). In 1881, the factory burned down and had to be completely rebuilt, a process Gener took advantage of to adapt it to the technological improvements of the time.

He demonstrated his philanthropic side by serving on three separate occasions as president of an organization created in 1840 under the name of the Benevolent Society of the Natives of Catalonia. Its purpose was to provide medical, economic, and social support to its members. It was also dedicated to promoting Catalan traditions. It still exists today and has a membership of around 800. In 1887, he built a school in the Pinar del Río area and donated it to the local council.

Cuba's first sugar refinery

In 1883, he diversified his businesses and invested in Cuba's first sugar refinery. This was a major initiative, since until then, sugar extracted from sugarcane plantations, a basic product known as raw sugar, had been shipped to the United States for refining. Enero led the company for several years until health problems and internal crises necessitated his resignation.

Enero's figure was shrouded in shadow due to his participation in the court martial that found a group of medical students guilty—and therefore executed—during the Ten Years' War (1868–1878). After these events, he temporarily settled in his hometown of L'Arboç, where he was able to closely follow the construction of the palace he had ordered built there a few years earlier. He was also heavily involved in the restoration of the town's historical heritage and in the introduction of running water and gas lighting. The palace still exists today and serves as a college-residence.

In the last years of his life, he lived in Barcelona, ​​in the family home at 57 Passeig de Gràcia, where a well-known shopping center named El Bulevar Rosa would later be built. In the early 1930s, Enero's descendants sold the tobacco factory and all associated brands and concentrated on investments in the sugar business. His legacy was perpetuated by his wife, the Louisiana-born aristocrat Francisca Seycher de León, and later by his daughter, Lutgarda Gener Seycher.