The decorated Catalan businessman and politician who already called for the economic agreement in 1899

No one can doubt Santiago Rusiñol's talent as a painter and writer, but what is certain is that his bohemian lifestyle, his constant travels, his life in Sitges and Paris, and, in general, all his adventures, would not have been possible without his family's fortune. His grandfather had developed a cotton industry in Manlleu (Osona), which, over the years, was inherited by his brothers Santiago and Albert. But Santiago, the eldest, decided that factory life held no interest for him and handed over management of the family business to Albert, his younger brother, who would go on to become a great businessman and a very active politician.

At only twenty-four years old, due to the death of his grandfather and also the resignation of his older brother, Albert Rusiñol had to take charge of the cotton spinning business, which at that time was called Jaime Rusiñol's Yarn and Fabric FactoryTwo years later, the family business would be renamed Rusiñol Brothers.

Suddenly becoming one of the country's leading cotton growers wasn't enough for Rusiñol, who as a young man embarked on a meteoric political career. In 1893, he was elected deputy to the Madrid parliament for the Vic electoral district, a position he repeated in 1905 and 1923, while for the Barcelona district he served as senator for Tarragona in 1901, 1903, 1914, 1916, 1918, 1912, and 1919. During the protectionist rally held in Terrassa in 1894, he spoke, pointing out that he was the youngest of all (he was thirty-one years old at the time). In his social life, he served as president of the Círculo del Liceo (Center of the Liceu) from 1894 to 1896.

1899 was a particularly intense year for Rusiñol, not only because he was involved in the creation of the Ter Manufacturers' Association and because he was elected president of Foment del Treball, but also because of the political upheavals of the time. During the autumn of that year, the famous closure of Catalan businesses' savings banks was organized as a protest against the state's fiscal policies. This massive action was followed by harsh repression from Madrid. A few days after the closure of the savings banks, Rusiñol—as president of Foment del Treball—and the presidents of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country, the Barcelona Athenaeum, the Catalan Agricultural Institute of San Isidro, and the League for Industrial and Commercial Defense visited the Queen Regent and the Prime Minister to request the agreement. In fact, it was a repeat of the visit the same figures had made a year earlier, and this time, the result was a total rejection by the Spanish institutions. That same autumn, Rusiñol published a letter in a Madrid newspaper where he stated that "The senseless campaign of the Madrid press [...] has produced more regionalists than the entire Catalan press combined.", a manifestation that seems terribly current.

And there would be even more requests that year, because our protagonist, as President of the Ministry of Public Works, asked the Council of Ministers to create a free port in Barcelona, but it was not approved. The demand was not new, as it had already been attempted for the first time in 1711, and more attempts would be made during the Franco era, all of them unsuccessful. With so much turmoil, it is not surprising that a few months later, in the spring of 1900, Rusiñol suffered serious health problems, which, fortunately, he overcame. Returning to the political sphere, he was instrumental in the creation of the Regionalist League (1901), Francisco Cambó's party. Just a year later, Rusiñol was appointed president.

In the last years of his life, he chaired the Círculo Ecuestre and the insurance company Banco Vitalicio de España. As a member of the board of directors, he also witnessed the bankruptcy of Banc de Barcelona (1920). In March 1928, he underwent surgery that was expected to resolve a serious health problem, but it did not, and he died a few hours later. The list of titles and honors he had accumulated at the time of his transfer was extensive: Knight of the Legion of Honor, of the Crown of Italy, of the Order of Christ of Portugal (the supposed successor to the Order of the Temple), Commander of the Order of Charles III, holder of the Cross of Isabella the Catholic and the gold medal of Alfonso XII, among others.