Ramón Altarriba y Villanueva, 1st Count of Altarriba, 24th Baron of Sangarrén (1841–1906), was a Spanish Carlist politician, landowner, publisher, and soldier. During the Third Carlist War he commanded battalion-size legitimist units. He represented the party in the lower chamber of the Cortes during 2 terms of 1879-1881 and 1886-1890. In the 1890s and early 1900s he served as the party leader in the region of Old Castile, though as one of the largest landholders in Gipuzkoa he exerted also enormous influence in the province.
Family and youth
Ramón Altarriba y Villanueva was born into a distinguished aristocratic Aragonese family of Altarriba. Possibly from the old distinguished Catalan noble family of Altarriba in Catalonia, part of the Crown of Aragon at the time, it held baronia de Sangarrén since the 14th centuryPorfirio Sanz Camañes, Del Reino a la Corte. Oligarquías y élites de poder en las Cortes de Aragón a mediados del siglo XVII, [in:] Revista de Historia Moderna. Anales de la Universidad de Alicante 19 (2001), pp. 39, 43, 83, also Sangarrén, baronia de entry [in:] Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa online, available here and condado de Robres since the 18th century;Robres, Conde de entry at compactgen service, available here its representatives were many times noted in the history of Aragón and Zaragoza.Santiago Broto Aparicio, Nobleza altoaragonesa: Condes de Robres, [in:] Diario del Alto Aragón online, available here His paternal grandmother, María Bernarda Colón Serra,she married Ramón’s paternal grandfather, José Jacobo Altarriba y Calasanz; José Ramón Urquijo Goitia, María Jesús Álvarez-Coca Gonzálvez, José Joaquín Colón y la rehabilitación de la monarquía absoluta, [in:] Revista de Historia Jerónimo Zurita 87 (2012), p. 176 was a descendant of Christopher Columbus.Urquijo, Álvarez-Coca 2012, pp. 172-173; for detailed genealogical tree see genealogiacolombiana service available here and look for the "José Altarriba y Calasanz" box Ramón's father, José de Altarriba y Colón de Larreátegui (1804-1870), 11th conde de RobresRobres, Conde de entry at compactgen service and 22nd barón de Sangarrén, was a Carlist highly esteemed by Carlos VI; no details of his involvement in the movement are available.Francisco de Paula Oller, Album de Personajes Carlistas con sus Biografias, volume II, Barcelona 1888, p. 171, Agustín Fernández Escudero, El marqués de Cerralbo (1845-1922): biografía politica [PhD thesis], Madrid 2012, p. 180 Ramón's mother, also from Aragón, María Pilar Villanueva y Altarriba (1820-1895), was daughter of conde de Atarés and second cousin of his father José.see the Heirs of Europe service available here
None of the sources consulted clarifies why the family lived in the French Bayonne, a usual location for Carlist exiles and refugees fleeing Spain in the aftermath of defeat suffered during the First Carlist War. Ramón was one of 8 siblings and the second oldest son.see geneallnet service available here, entry nr 67 His older brother, José María, upon return to Aragón followed the family path and also engaged in Carlist activities,e.g. he was the co-founder, together with conde de Fuentes, Bienvenido Comín y Sarté and José Puente y Villabueva, of the Carlist La Esperanza daily, Julio V. Brioso y Mairal, Noticias carlistas en "El Diario de Huesca", [in:] Fernando Alvira Banzo (ed.), El Diario de Huesca. 125 años después, Huesca 2000, , pp. 74-75 which did not prevent him from becoming comisario regio for Zaragoza in 1869;and a Carlist candidate to the Cortes from Sariñena in 1871, Brioso 2000, p. 74 he inherited all family titles in 1870. Ramón as a youngster moved from France to Spain and entered Real Seminario Científico Industrial,María Cinta Caballer Vivies, Los alumnos de la Escuela Especial de Matemáticas del Real Seminario Científico Industrial de Vergara, [in:] Revista de la Sociedad Española de Historia de las Ciencias y de las Técnicas 32 (2009), p. 260 a state-ran and highly esteemedonly 22% of the alumni were from Vascongadas; 55% originated from the rest of Spain and 23% from abroad, including America, Caballer 2009, p. 282 Gipuzkoan educational establishment in Bergara.Caballer 2009, p. 260 He is reported as enrolled in 1854, though it is not clear when he completed the curriculum; the standard cycle lasted 5 years.Caballer 2009, p. 228; it is not clear what development path Ramón’s parents envisaged; the school, apart from training commercial merchants, was a stepping stone towards military career (usually in artillery) or provided general training enabling its student to run family estates, Caballer 2009, p. 260
Ramón Altarriba y Villanueva married Rosa Guerra y Serbi; nothing is known of this marriage, apart that his wife died in 1875 and the couple had no issue.see Altarriba and conde de Altarriba entries at compactgen service, available here He then espoused María de la Blanca Porcel y Guirior (1859-1940),see Villa Alegre entry at compactgen service, available here; some sources spell her family name as "Guirioz", see Luisa Utanda Moreno, Francesco Feo Parrondo, Propiedad rustica en Guipuzcoa segun el registro de la propiedad expropiable (1933), [in:] Lurralde. Investigación y espacio 18 (1995), pp. 113-135, available here, or „Guerior", see Miguel Caballero Pérez, Pilar Góngora Ayala, Historia de una familia: la verdad sobre el asesinato de García Lorca, Madrid 2007, , 9788495803597, p. 149 heir to aristocratic family originating from Gipuzkoa and Andalusia. Since her fatherLuciano Porcel Valdivia, marqués de Villa Alegra y de San Millán, native of Beasáin, represented Gipuzkoa in the Senate in 1871, Caballero 2007, p. 149 died in 1873Villa Alegre entry at compactgen with no male descendants, having been the oldest daughter she arranged to inherit his titles as 7th marquesa de Villa Alegre and San Millán; Altarriba became marqués consorte.their descandants were not entitled to the honor, Villa Alegre entry at compactgen The couple had two sons, Ramón and Jaime Altarriba y Porcel.see Ramón de Altarriba y Villanueva entry at geneallnet service, available here Nothing is known about the former; the latter (1884–1936)see Jaime Altarriba y Porcel entry at compactgen service, available here; at his baptism the padrinos were the future Carlist king Don Jaime and his sister doña Blanca, see La Unión 07.05.84, available here joined artillery and pursued a military career.see ABC 14.09.10, available here He became comandante de Artilleria, maestrante de la Real Maestranza de la Caballeria de Zaragozahe followed in the foosteps of his father, see Oller 1888, p. 173; see also Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Zaragoza website available here and an entrepreneur.see Askar, [in:] Zumaiako Industria-ondarearen Informazio Zentroa web bulletin 2012, available here Also an active Carlist, in 1934 he headed finance section of Comunión Tradicionalista.Martin Blinkhorn, Carlism and Crisis in Spain 1931-1939, Cambridge 2008, , 9780521086349, p. 207 The 1936 coup surprised him in the Gipuzkoan spa of Zestoa, where he was detained by the republican militia and died.according to a Basque source he died due to tuberculosis, see Askar; a different version presented in the Carlist publication, Félix G. Olmedo, En España empieza a amanecer: a la memoria de Jaime Altarriba Porcel, s/l 1936. In the same Zestoa spa the Republicans detained also a Carlist activist and a former MP, Joaquín Beunza, who was later taken to San Sebastián and executed, see Joaquín Beunza Redin entry [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here
War and war
Upon the outbreak of Primera Guerra de Marruecos in 1859 the young Altarriba volunteered to the army; accepted, he was assigned to the Aragon infantry unit of Regimento de Zamora and landed in Ceuta in December 1859.Nicolas Estevanez, Mis memorias, Madrid 1975, , pp. 49 Details of his service are unclear, though he certainly entered many combat actions against the Moroccan troops. Serving under the command of Antonio Ros de OlanoEstevanez 1975, p. 8 in January 1860 he might have taken part in the battle of Castillejos; bypassing Monte Negrón in a dare Spanish maneuver,Estevanez 1975, pp. 54-55 he then participated in the battle of Cabo Negro.Estevanez 1975, p. 55 For meritorious service Altarriba was awarded Cruz de San FernandoRamón Altarriba y Villanueva entry [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here and got promoted to teniente.Oller 1888, pp. 171–2; Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia claims he was promoted to capitán Late 1860 the unit returned to the Zaragoza barracks.Estevanez 1975, p. 69 Apparently enjoying adventurous life and vivacious company, he demonstrated some gift for rhyming couplets;compare "Y cuaitdo al castillo vuelven / mis caballos arrogantes, / les doy a comer diamantes / en morrales de tisú", or "Queridisimo rechoncho, / debes pedir una plancha / para quitar esa mancha / que te ha caído en el poncho", quoted after Estevanez 1975, p. 70. at that time he befriended Nicolas Estevanez Murphy.Estevanez 1975, p. 69 During the next few years Altarriba continued his military career, though no details are known.
Following the Revolution of 1868 Altarriba requested and was granted release from military service,his service in the Isabelline army was later called against him by some Carlists, see Fernández Escudero 2012, p. 180 though he returned to the army in 1871.Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia Once the Republic was declared he approached the conspiring CarlistsAuñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia; in 1871 his brother was a Carlist candidate to the Cortes from Sariñena, Brioso 2000, p. 74 and at the outbreak of the Third Carlist War he was already incorporated in their army.Oller 1888, p. 172, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia He was assigned to the Northern Front and took command of an insurgent volunteer Biscay battalion, which conquered and cleared the Durango district in 1873.Oller 1888, p. 172 Promoted to coronel, he then commanded primera brigada de Vizcaya and joined the siege of Bilbao in early 1874; he led the unit routing the Republican forces during the battle of SomorrostroOller 1888, p. 172 and advancing later to Portugalete,Oller 1888, p. 172 where Altarriba was given the privilege of accepting surrender of the famous battalón de Segorbe.Oller 1888, p. 172 Participated in a number of skirmishes at the outskirts of Bilbao, assaulting the forts of Delmas and Volantín.Oller 1888, p. 173 Nominated Comandante General del Alto Aragón, Altarriba was the organizer, sponsor and commander of Battalón de Almogávares de la Virgen del Pilar,Ampelio Alonso de Cadenas y Lopez (ed.), Suplemento al Elenco de grandezas y títulos nobiliarios españoles: Títulos vacantes y títulos extranjeros cuyo uso fue autorizado en España. Appendice II, Madrid 1991, , 9788487204296, p. 11 leading it early 1875 during the defense of the so-called línea de CarrascalOller 1888, p. 173 and in the Navarrese battles of Lumbier and Etxauri.Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia In final phase of the war and in unclear circumstances there was an investigative proceeding launched against Altarriba; eventually cleared of all charges, he was promoted to brigadier.Oller 1888, pp. 173-4 Located in mid-range command chain, he did not make it amongst top Carlist commanders and did not supervise operations above the tactical level. Nominated adjutant to Carlos VII,ABC 01.04.06, available here, Oller 1888, p. 174 in reward for his service Altarriba was conceded the title of conde de Altarriba.Cadenas 1991, p. 11. Unlike many other aristocratic titles awarded by Carlist claimants, often recognised by Franco in the 1950s and functional until today, condado de Altarriba has never been confirmed. It is not clear whether any of Altarriba’s descendants claims the title currently
Early Restauración