The manor of La Olmeda and the industrial complex of Nuevo Baztán

The Marquis of La Olmeda

Olmeda had its own jurisdiction for a century, but certain economic difficulties forced its neighbors to sell the municipality on February 23, 1683 to Fernando Antonio de Loyola. That he received from the King the title of Marqués de la Olmeda, for life, and that it was not transmitted to the rest of the buyers.

There was a second Marquis of La Olmeda Ignacio de Loyola y Oyanguren, son of the first and Alfonsa de Oyanguren Vallecilla y Velasco. He stood out in the s. XVIII as a literary critic. He signed his works with the pseudonym Tomás de Erauso y Zabaleta. There is no record that he was ever in Olmeda.

Juan de Goyeneche Lord of the Olmeda

Juan de Goyeneche y Gastón was born on October 12, 1656 in Arizcum, belonging to the Baztán Valley in Navarra.

Very well placed in the court he was treasurer of the second wife of Carlos II Mariana de Neoburgo and after the war of succession and the change of dynasty he continued to be with María Luisa de Saboya and Isabel de Farnesio, wives of Felipe V. Thus, three queens, two kings and the dynasties of the Habsburgs and Bourbons agreed to recognize its worth.

He took charge of the Gaceta de Madrid, starting with its second issue on April 2, 1697. Until 1711 Goyeneche had the monopoly of the written press, by virtue of a Royal Decree granted by Felipe V on October 22, 1701 .

But surely the most emblematic and entrepreneurial work of Juan de Goyeneche is the industrial complex developed in Olmeda de la Cebolla during the War of Succession, in a place called "Monte de Acevedo" and later Nuevo Baztán. This place ended up segregating itself from La Olmeda. This shows us the true dimension of the Navarrese, an innovative and enterprising personality, not at all conservative, far from the feeling of the nobility of the time.

In 1705 the 4500 bushels where he would build the Nuevo Baztán industrial project, to the Marquis of La Olmeda Fernando Antonio de Loyola.

The spectacular transformation of the municipal area of La Olmeda began around 1709, with the construction of a palace by José Benito de Churriguera, on “Monte Acevedo” or “Bosque de Acevedo”. A newly built urban complex, which would be completed in 1713. It was called Nuevo Baztán evocative of its Navarrese origins.

The reason why Goyeneche started this industrial process has to do with the war of succession after the death of Carlos II. Due to the dispute for the throne between Felipe de Anjou with the support of his grandfather, the King of France Louis IV and Archduke Charles with the support of his father, Emperor Leopold I of Austria. Cardinal Portocarrero obtained, shortly before the death of Carlos II, a testament in favor of Felipe de Anjou, with the idea of avoiding the division of the Spanish empire.

The fine cloth factory and industrial complex

From the first moment Juan de Goyeneche was committed to Felipe V and contributed to the financing of the expenses caused by the War of Succession. In 1702 he supported the Spanish fleet for the defense of the Bay of Cádiz against the English navy. He also helped economically to supply the troops and when the support of Louis XIV began to decline and the forces of the young candidate seemed to be exhausted, he built a cloth factory at his expense in 1710 to supply uniforms to the General Store of Costumes for the Troop. thus avoiding that they had to be imported from France. He installed the factory in Olmeda, where looms already existed.

The initial 5 looms in La Olmeda went to 12 in 1713, 26 in 1718, and 32 a year later. The cloths were of such quality that the regiments demanded the cloths from La Olmeda.

The cloth industry altered the appearance of La Olmeda, a notable change in its socioeconomic structure due to the increase in the job offer, increased income, quality of life and the population with more than 800 inhabitants. It was the moment of maximum splendor of La Olmeda.
In La Olmeda they continued to manufacture cloths until the beginning of the 20th century, crude cloths and of little quantity.

The War of the Spanish Succession ended with the treaties of Utrecht in 1713 and Rastadt in 1714, in which the victory of the Bourbon candidate, who went on to occupy the Spanish throne under the name of Felipe V.

Juan de Goyeneche bought the Señorío de La Olmeda, in a deed dated October 8, 1714 from the Marquis of La Olmeda, Fernando Antonio de Loyola and his wife, Alfonsa de Oyanguren Vallecilla y Velasco, the operation closes at 67,000 reais of fleece.

From 1714 he became the lord of La Olmeda, and started an industrial complex around the palace with a program for the reindustrialization and repopulation of the region. For this he followed the theories of the Minister of Finance of the Sun King Jean Baptiste Colbert.

In addition to the factory of fine cloths, and the one of before and chamois, Juan de Goyeneche founded in 1715 a factory of ammunition hats and other textile articles. In addition to a tannery to supply the troops. Little by little he was installing other manufactures (common brandy and endaya, water from the Queen of Hungary, candle shop, confectionery, paper factory and ordinary glass, shoe store, products for silk fabrics, handkerchiefs, colonies, among others). The region, being a complex that exceeded the local character, included La Olmeda, Ambite, Orusco, Illana, Almonacid, Villanueva de Alcorón, etc ...

Words of Felipe V "If he had two vassals like Goyeneche, he would very briefly put Spain in a state of not depending on foreigners, before he would reduce them to depend on Spain".

For ten years the success of such a great company seemed assured, but the project was closely linked to its founder; This fact, together with the change in government policy in which the real factories that competed with those of private initiative were established, would put an end to it. Thus, before dying in 1735, “the Navarrese could see his dream vanish, when a process of decline began in the twenties that would culminate, several years later, with the bankruptcy of the factories, the exodus of workers and the definitive extinction of the commercial transfer ”.

At his death La Olmeda passed into the hands of his first-born, Francisco Javier de Goyeneche, who in turn would die in 1748 without issue, so the lordship of La Olmeda passes to his brother Francisco Miguel, Marqués de Belzunce and Conde de Saceda. With him the factory will have a new impulse, but it would relapse again before his death, at the end of 1762.

Creation of the parish of San Francisco Javier de Nuevo Baztán

When the industrial complex was at its peak, and with a high population in Nuevo Baztán. Juan de Goyeneche realizes that it is necessary to convert the private church of the palace into a parish so that the neighbors and workers can fulfill the cult.

And so in 1721 a lawsuit began between Juan de Goyeneche; Lord of La Olmeda, and Julián González; priest of La Olmeda.

They addressed the archbishopric of Toledo and the Pope, alleging the difficulties in attending services. The reasons given for such segregation refer to the difficulties of the road; Since in summer it is very hot and in winter it is muddy, the risk that the priest will not arrive in time to attend to a sick person, the slopes and unevenness that exist prevent the bells from being heard and the small size of the church.

On July 22, 1723, Pope Innocent XIII granted the construction of the parish and authorized him to appoint a pastor. Juan de Goyeneche appoints Juan Domingo Sánchez as priest of the parish of San Francisco Javier on October 5, 1723. On October 7, he is confirmed by the Archbishop of Toledo, on October 9 the first mass was celebrated, and on October 10 of this month a solemn procession was made. On this day the founding of Nuevo Baztán is celebrated.

The priest of La Olmeda Julián González, does not give up and continues the lawsuit. On October 19, 1726, it will be definitively terminated.

In short, ten years after the church was finished and nine years after Juan de Goyeneche acquired the lordship of La Olmeda, segregation occurs, so it does not seem that it was a priority for the Navarrese.

The struggle for the emancipation of the Nuevo Baztán parish is a key event for the independence and civil segregation from the town of La Olmeda.

In the second half of the 20th century, the monumental complex was very degraded, so it went up to public auction in 1985 when Banesto acquired it, and transferred it to the Community of Madrid in 1989. A part of it was restored, with the intention to make an ethnographic museum of the Community of Madrid, but finally an interpretation center of Nuevo Baztán was built.

Case of the exhausts

It has been said of Juan de Goyeneche that he made Nuevo Baztán to liberate from the exhaustion of marginalization suffered by the residents of the Baztán Valley, especially those of the Bezote neighborhood of the Ariscum constituency. This issue cannot be fully clarified.

The agotes were a marginalized group, who were separated from all dealings with people, lived in separate neighborhoods and were forbidden to mix. They were despised and persecuted, even on a religious level. In the Baztán Valley it was more noticeable because all the neighbors except for them were sons of God and could put their noble coats of arms on the facades. On the other hand, to distinguish the exhausts from a distance, they were forced to carry a sign in the shape of a duck's foot and red in color on their back. In the church they occupied a separate place and entered through a small door.

The origin of this marginalization is not very well known, descendants of the Goths who settled in the north, Arians, descendants of lepers, etc.

However, there are also testimonies that speak highly of them. They stood out as craftsmen, carpenters, and poets. Especially in the work with stone and wood, and this may be the reason that Goyeneche brought them, although it seems that they did not stay. They were industrious and industrious, in addition to emphasizing their peaceful attitude. They had the soul of musicians, they were the txistularis, drummers and bertsolaris of the Navarrese lands.

On the other hand, Pío Baroja speaks that the one who brought to the exhaustion was a Goyeneche Count of Saceda, who was the second son of Goyeneche, Francisco Miguel, who took over the manor in 1748, in this case it is believed New Baztán to bring to exhaustion.

The previous doubts raised can be resolved with the analysis of the surnames made by Eusebio Bartolomé in his book "Nuevo Baztán: A singular historical case" in which Navarrese surnames do not appear in Nuevo Baztán in 1722.