The last (perhaps) great industrial bourgeois of Catalonia

BarcelonaDoes a Catalan bourgeoisie really exist? Or has it already died out? "They went from being company executives a few generations ago to being local representatives of multinationals. This has resulted in a bourgeoisie that, compared to other parts of the country, has been weaker," Carreras said.

the recent transfer of José Felipe Bertrán de Caralt It suggests that this is practically the end of this Catalan bourgeoisie, which during the first decades of the 20th century controlled a large part of the Principality's industry and attempted to maintain political influence. Bertran and Musitu streets, that is, two streets with the surnames of his grandfather – Josep Bertran y Musitu (1875-1957) –, a person who fully embodied the values of this bourgeoisie: a lawyer, he was a member of the Regionalist Union and later one of the founders of the Regionalist League – and the Regionalist League party – and the Regionalist League party – the Regionalist Justice League party.

But with the Civil War, Bertran y Musitu went over to the Francoist side and some historians suggest that he set up a spy service in Catalonia. Meanwhile, his large house in Putxet would end up being the refuge of the Spanish government, Juan Negrín, businesses that would later be continued by his son, Felipe Bertrán Güell (1901-1965), and his grandson, José Felipe Bertrán de Caralt (1926-2025) Flagell of the Bourgeoisie

Bertrán de Caralt fully represented what remained of this Catalan bourgeoisie, which after the war put politics aside to focus on business, culture, and art. This businessman came to public attention in the 1990s when he was convicted of tax fraud, but at the same time he became a victim of the corruption network of Judge Lluís Pascual Estevill, the so-called "Bertrand" (the "Bertrand"). scourge of the bourgeoisie, who during the early 90s paraded important figures, some politicians, through Barcelona's investigating court number 26 and who even tickled the (judicial) nerves of the then mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Pasqual Maragall.

Estevill, after a difficult childhood in his native Cabacés, where he even worked as a goat herder, rose to the top of the judiciary but ended up convicted of extorting the businessmen he was investigating, among them Bertrán de Caralt himself.

Bertrán de Caralt was one of the driving forces behind the re-founding of the Catalan employers' association Foment del Treball in 1976, in the first months of the Spanish transition, and later of the Spanish employers' association CEOE, together with Carles Ferrer Salat. He was also vice president of the cement company Asland (now part of the Holcim-Lafarge group) and vice president of Aigües de Barcelona, ​​becoming one of Spain's leading poultry businessmen with the company Material Agropecuario. In the 1990s, he was presented to the press as one of the state's largest fortunes.

Pleasant and highly cultured, he was, for example, a patron of the Friends of the Prado Museum Foundation, among many other positions linked to the cultural and social world. Bertrán de Caralt also featured in a few anecdotes during his clashes with the law. For example, on the day Judge Estevill, who was investigating him for tax fraud, summoned him to testify at Barcelona's former duty court, in the Palace of Justice on Passeig Lluís Companys, the businessman, always dressed and wearing a tie, was almost dressed in sportswear. He also showed a group of journalists what he had in his bag: a change of clothes, a toiletry bag, and a toothbrush.

The businessman was certain that his destiny would be prison, and so it was. Years later, the judge who had investigated and imprisoned him, and who was already a member of the General Council of the Judiciary (at the proposal of CiU), would also be convicted of extorting the businessmen he was investigating. In fact, Bertrán de Caralt knew what his fate would be after testifying because he had refused to yield to Estevell's demands.

However, he would also end up convicted in the tax fraud case. The Supreme Court sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 491 million pesetas (almost 3 million euros at the current exchange rate). The Spanish government, with the popular Margarita Mariscal de Gante (PP) as Minister of Justice, granted him a pardon in the summer of 1997. During the investigation of the case, Bertrán de Caralt was the protagonist of another anecdote: the judicial commission showed up at his mansion in Putxet, where he lived, and both the house and all its contents were in the name of a company, to which he paid a rent of 8,000 pesetas (48.08 euros) a month.