The versatile Catalan businessman behind the skylight of the Monte Carlo Casino

Throughout this series of profiles, we've often discussed the world of oil and the Catalan and foreign figures who left their mark on the oil industry, particularly following the creation, in 1927, of the Spanish monopoly managed by Campsa and the subsequent creation of Cepsa in 1929. But oil was already flowing long before Henry, the lubricant manufacturer where Demetrio Carceller Segura, the first of the Carceller line, began his professional career. Another example of the importance of crude oil can be found in Reus (Baix Camp), where a refinery called La Pensilvania began operating in 1880, the brainchild of entrepreneur Joan Vilella Llauradó, who came from the nut industry.

Joan Vilella Jr. was born into a wealthy family thanks not only to his father's oil business, but also to the dried fruit and flour business. From a very young age, Vilella decided to move the family refinery to the port of Tarragona to have more convenient access to the crude oil arriving by ship. The new company, with external partners, was called Refinería Catalana de Petróleo (Catalan Oil Refinery), and its main supplier was none other than Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller's firm. The star product was kerosene, which was primarily used for street lighting, while the byproducts served as machinery lubricant. The creation of the state oil monopoly managed by Campsa in 1927 forced Vilella and his descendants to change roles, and, among other things, they took over the oil transportation of this new public-private company.

But long before that, in 1892, Vilella and his father began building what would become a large glass factory in Poblenou, Barcelona, ​​primarily intended for the production of beverage containers for the Monte Carlo Casino and those used in the construction of the Paris Metropolitan Railway.

Over the years, and specifically from 1968 onwards, this factory would become associated with the French multinational Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel (BSN), a glass company that would soon merge with Danone and end up taking the latter's name (the Vilella factory ended up being fully integrated into BN).

But Vilella's business ventures extended beyond that, as he also managed a credit institution that in 1949 took the official name of Banca Vilella SA. Twenty years later, it was transferred to the Banco de Vizcaya. At the beginning of the century (1904), they also founded Botonería Barcelonesa, a factory producing buttons made from various materials, primarily glass. Between 1903 and 1905, Vilella presided over the Reus Chamber of Commerce, a very short period because his responsibilities within the family business group did not leave him much free time.

Another business Vilella promoted was the Reusense Automobile Company La Hispania. Founded in 1909, its mission was to transport passengers between various towns in Baix Camp, and later also to the camps where recruits were to serve as university militia officers. It should be noted that this company existed until last year, when it was taken over by its competitor, Sagalés SA.

As was typical of the great businessmen of the time, Vilella also entered politics. At a very young age, he served as a councilor for Reus City Council and was also a member of the Republican-leaning Possibilist Party. He never hid his republican ideas, which he championed. He also wanted to be seen in Barcelona, and for this reason, in 1914, he acquired Casa Macaya, a mansion located on Passeig de Sant Joan and Avinguda Diagonal, which had been built by the Indiano Román Macaya Gibert (1843-1923). Vilella's heirs sold the mansion in 1947 to the Caja de Pensiones (Pension Fund), which currently uses it to develop part of its cultural activities. Another of Vilella's notable properties was the house that bears his name, which can be seen on Sitges's Paseo Marítim as a five-star hotel.