Juan Echevarría, the man who brought the Japanese company Nissan to the Free Trade Zone, has died.

BarcelonaThe businessman and executive Juan Echevarría y Puig, who was president of Nissan Echevarría, who also worked for Mutua Universal, has died at the age of 101, according to the Social Security collaborating entity, which expressed its condolences to his family and friends. Echevarría is considered a key figure in saving Motor Ibérica and facilitating the acquisition of a stake by the Japanese multinational Nissan. A Falangist and follower of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Echevarría admitted to having suffered hunger during the post-war period. However, he was able to study and earned a doctorate in law from the University of Barcelona, ​​where he led the Spanish University Syndicate, linked to the Franco regime. He also held a degree in political science from the University of Madrid, a postgraduate degree in business studies from the Institute of Higher Studies at the University of Navarra, and a diploma in industrial relations from the University of Massachusetts (USA). He held the chairs of Sociology at the Faculties of Law and Economics of the University of Barcelona, ​​was founder and director of the Sant Jordi Residence Hall at this university, and was the first president of the Social Council of Pompeu Fabra University.

In the business world, he served as CEO of Perkins, a subsidiary of Motor Ibérica, and held the position of CEO of Correos y Telecomunicaciones (the Spanish postal service). He also contributed to the founding of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE). In the 1990s, he served as president of Fecsa, Nissan Motor Ibérica, Cable i Televisió de Catalunya (Menta), and the Institut Guttmann Foundation. Subsequently, he became vice president of Endesa and the World Trade Center Barcelona and served on the board of directors of the Port of Barcelona. In 2004, Juan Echevarría assumed the presidency of Mutua Universal – he had been a member of its board of directors since 1987 – and held the position until 2022. During those 18 years, he led the organization, and in 2023, he was unanimously named honorary president "for his dedication and for the excellent services" he rendered to the organization, to which he dedicated 36 years of his life.

In the political sphere, in 1980 he founded the Solidaritat Catalana party together with Joan Rosell, the future president of the CEOE, However, with little success in that year's parliamentary elections, he ended up joining the People's Alliance, later the People's Party. Later still, he maintained ties with Platform 2003, a far-right organization that glorified Primo de Rivera. In 1998, the government of Jordi Pujol awarded him the Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of St. George).