Ramón Massó Tarruella (1928–2017) was a Spanish media and communications expert, known also for his role in Carlism of the 1960s. He gained nationwide recognition in the 1970s and 1980s, when as academic, theorist and brand communications specialist he published numerous books and co-ran a media agency. In historiography he is moderately recognized for his role in politics of mid-Francoism. He was leading the group of young Carlist activists who challenged the Traditionalists and eventually ensured domination of the progressist current. However, his bid to promote Prince Carlos Hugo as a future monarch and as an alternative to prince Juan Carlos failed.
Family and youth
Massó descended from a well-to-do Catalan bourgeoisie family. His grandfather Ramón Massó Marcer (died 1936)Javier Pampliega Nogués, La historia del IESE. Una gran Business School en Pedralbes. El caso del IESE-Universidad de Navarra, [in:] Pedres Albes 7 (2015), p. 6. His date of death is stated as “August 1936”, its circumstances are not clear. He was married to Amelia Soler Gutsems, Ramon's paternal grandmother originated from Sant Pere de Ribes.Orígenes, [in:] Comercial Química Massó service, available here In 1885, during rapid expansion of the Catalan textile industry, he moved to Barcelona to set up his own business. He started a company which specialized in production of textile dyes;Comercial Química Massó esponsoriza a Greennova, [in:] GreenNova service, available here fairly successful,he was also an inventor, see Boletín Oficial de la propiedad intelectual e industrial 16.01.99, available here in 1902 it was turned into R. Massó y Cía, Sociedad Colectiva.Fábrica Massó i Carol. Habitatges Vapor Llull, [in:] Espais recobrats service, available here His son, Juan Massó Soler (died 1975), developed the business into a diversified chemical company.Comercial Química Massó service, available here Massó Soler also owned real estate in the then suburban Barcelona zone of Pedralbes.Pampliega Nogués 2015, p. 6 He was member of many Catalan commercial and trade institutions.e.g. Sociedad Economica Barcelonesa de Amigos del País, El Día Gráfico 31.05.30, available here, or Asociación de Químicos Textiles, El Día Gráfico 16.02.33, available here At unspecified time, though probably in the mid-1920s,in 1922 Nuria Tarruella was referred to in the press as “señorita”, La Jornada Deportiva 11.12.22, available here he married Nuria Tarruella Riu;Pampliega Nogués 2015, p. 6. She was daughter to Josep Tarruella Albareda, a well-known Barcelonese doctor, and Montserrat Riu Rovira. During her youth Nuria was a recognized tennis player, winning numerous local trophies. Details in Ramón Massó, Navegando por el cachondeo de la historia, Barcelona 2012, ISBN 9788493998707, pp. 19-79 the couple lived in Pedralbes, in the late 1930s moving into a luxury mansion at Avenida Pearson.La Prensa 29.06.50, available here. The mansion, dubbed La Masia, comprised a garage for 10 cars, equipped also with a turntable, Massó 2012, p. 56
Juan and Nuria had 8 children, 3 sonsnamed José Luis, Ramón, and Juan Antonio and 5 daughters,named Montserrat, Isabel, Maria Amelia, Pilar, and Nuria all raised in deeply CatholicAbout Father John Masso, [in:] Masso Foundation service, available here and moderately conservative ambience. For barely 2 years Ramón frequented Colegio Nelly in Barcelona.Massó 2012, pp. 24-26 Following outbreak of the civil war and thanks to a huge bribe,Massó 2012, p. 31 the Massó family was allowed to leave the revolution-engulfed Catalonia and made it to the Nationalist zone;Massó "había venido huyendo de Cataluña con su familia", Manuel Martorell Pérez, La continuidad ideológica del carlismo tras la Guerra Civil [PhD thesis in Historia Contemporanea, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia], Valencia 2009, p. 153 they settled in San Sebastián.Mercedes Vázquez de Prada, El final de una ilusión. Auge y declive del tradicionalismo carlista (1957-1967), Madrid 2016, ISBN 9788416558407, p. 54 After the end of hostilities the family returned to Barcelona,Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 54 where Massó Soler resumed his chemical business. Ramón resumed education in a Jesuit college in Sarrià,Massó 2012, p. 51 where he obtained baccalaureate in 1945. Diagnosed with tuberculosis, he spent 1946-1947 mostly in sanatoria. In 1948 he entered Opus Dei and until 1949 was undergoing its formative courses in Seville and Cádiz.Massó 2012, pp. 81-98 He commenced law in Barcelona, but in 1951 was called to military service.according to his own account, initially it was agreed that his father would pay a bribe so that he did not have to serve. However, at the last moment the officer taking kickbacks doubled the price, Ramon refused to pay, and was drafted, Massó 2012, p. 93 When released he abandoned law, moved to Madrid and enrolled at Filosofia y Letras in Central.Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 54 He got a degree in philosophy with a thesis on "temas pedagógicos de innovación educativa";Mercedes Vázquez de Prada Tiffe, La Agrupación de Estudiantes Tradicionalistas y la renovación ideológica del carlismo en los años cincuenta, [in:] Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta (ed.), Mito y realidad en la historia de Navarra: actas del IV Congreso de Historia de Navarra, Pamplona 1998, p. 220. In 1960, when teaching at Colegio, Massó tried his hand as a theorist of education; in Nuestro Tiempo he published an article La libertad como condición y como medio, Ramón Pomar, Gaztelueta. Un estilo educativo, [in:] Fundación Gaztelueta, Bilbao 1997, ISBN 8488678010, p. 120 the year of Massó's graduation is not clear, though it was likely 1954.one scholar claims that when making his 1956 debut during the Montejurra rally, Massó had already 2 years of teaching experience, Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 1998, p. 225 In the mid-1950sone author claims he moved to Bilbao in 1956, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 57, which is incompatible with earlier statements of the same author, see Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 1998, p. 225. In his quasi-autobiography Massó does not provide any date, and his narrative might point to any year between 1952 and 1957, Massó 2012, pp. 104-114 he moved to Bilbao to commence teaching at Colegio Gaztelueta,Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 1998, p. 221. He is remembered e.g. by Jon Juaristi, “descendiendo del Citroen 2CV de los profesores”, “con la pipa firmemente sujeta entre los dientes”, “corpulento y de cabellera tupida”, Jon Juaristi, A cuerpo de rey. Monarquía accidental y melancolía republicana, Madrid 2014, ISBN 9788434418998, p. 16 a school founded few years earlier by Opus DeiJavier Lavardín [José Antonio Parilla], Historia del ultimo pretendiente a la corona de España, Paris 1976, p. 85 and the local high bourgeoisie of Getxo.Lavardín 1976, p. 33-34
In 1968 Massó married Carmen Bigas Rovira, a woman from another Catalan high-bourgeoisie family;she was daughter to a Barcelona car dealer, a representative of Austin for Spain, Massó 2012, p. 220 the couple had no children."Carmen y yo, al no tener hijos...", Massó 2012, p. 243 His brothers José Luis and Juan Antonio joined the family company. In the 1960s José Luis, acting as co-owner and CEO, turned it into Comercial Química Massó Sociedad Anónima, which remains active until today;Orígenes, [in:] Comercial Química Massó service, available here he was also known as engaged in the Barcelona football club, RCD Español.ABC 29.11.06, available here The youngest brother Juan Antonio left the world of business and commenced studying canon law; he was ordained as a priest in 1965. Following his transfer to Australia he later became the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei, the position retained until his death.Alan Gill, A logn-serving force in Opus Dei, [in:] Sydney Morning Herald 31.12.03, available here Another known Massó's relative was his distant paternal uncle, Ramón Oliveras Massó; in the early 1930s he was director of the Barcelona-based Escuela de Ingenieros IndustrialesRetrat de Ramón Oliveras Massó, director de l'ETSEIB entre el 1931-1933, [in:] Memoria Digital UPC service, available here and taught there until 1936.Simposi Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 2020, ISBN 9788499655543, p. 295, Marta Saliné i Perich, Roser Vilardell i Parruella (eds.), Tradición y modernidad. La cerámica en el Modernismo. Actas del congreso celebrado en Esplugues de Llobregat, 29-31 octubre 2004: IX Congreso Anual de la Asociación de Ceramologı́a, Barcelona 2006, p. 192
Early Carlist engagements (until 1955)
Massó's father politically was related to moderate Catalanist conservatism and held minor posts in Lliga Regionalista.Hoja Oficial de la Provincia de Barcelona 30.01.33, available here. His son later claimed that "mi padre no pertenecia a ningun partido", Massó 2012, p. 31 Later in Francoist Spain he approachede.g. in 1960 he was considered a candidate to enter a Carlist committee, supposed to re-invigorate the movement in Catalonia, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 81 and possibly even joined Carlism,e.g. in 1962 he was present during a meeting, organised by Valiente with the objective to ensure financing of Comunión Tradicionalista, Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 183 but until the civil war there were no Carlist "antecedentes familiares".Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 411 Hence, it was mostly by accident that Ramón, at the time a 9-year-old, during the wartime exile years in San Sebastián joined the Carlist juvenile organisation, Pelayos.Massó 2012, pp. 42-44. He mentions an uncle, Jose Maria de Abadal, husband to sister of his mother, who reportedly served in requete and whose frontline accounts might have influenced the decision to approach the Carlists When in aftermath of political Francoist amalgamation it was merged with the Falangist youth branch Flechas Massó withdrew. As a boy he took part in the 1937 anti-unification demonstrations, shouting "death tto Franco" and "death to Falange".Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 153 Having returned to Barcelona he remained active in informal Carlist youth structuresVázquez de Prada Tiffe 1998, p. 220 and attended Carlist rallies; according to his own later account it was during the 1945 Montserrat aplec that he became determined to act whatever it takes.Vázquez de Prada Tiffe 1998, p. 220
During his academic years in the early 1950s Massó found himself part of a wave of young Carlist students, active in Madrid.Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 382 They were increasingly irritated by what they perceived as complacent, somnabulic atmosphere of Carlist círculos.Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 380 He was neither impressed by theoretical works by Traditionalist pundits like Rafael Gambra,later Massó claimed that Gambra refused to acknowledge the changes introduced during Vaticanum II and slipped into Integrism, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 475 which he found intellectually refined, but of little practical value.Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 400 He was rather fascinated by José Ortega y Gasset and his vision of politics as action;Massó was highly influenced by José Ortega y Gasset and his work Mirabeau o el político; the key conclusion he drew was that what matters in politics is action, not ideology or theory, Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 425 he formatted his Carlist vision as activism pushing the limits of what was possible.Vázquez de Prada 2016, p. 54 He did not attend courses of the Carlist Academia Vázquez de Mella,Martorell Pérez 2009, pp. 382-383 though he joined Agrupación de Estudiantes Tradicionalistas, a technically illegal though tolerated Carlist student organization.Martorell Pérez 2009, p. 382