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PEDRO MARTÍNEZ CUTILLAS

Sometimes, we are lucky and life puts exceptional people in front of us. People we like to be with because they always bring us something good. People who make us better. Pedro has been, without a doubt, one of those people.

There are presences that monopolize everything, but there are also absences that envelop everything.

There are lives that constitute a frame of reference for future generations, that are born to be told and evaporate leaving behind a tangle of memories and experiences impossible to be cornered, imperishable in time and worthy of being admired. Yours is one of them. A life full of anecdotes, events, happenings, events and incredible milestones. A life to remember and perpetuate in time.

After suffering for a long time, with the temper that distinguishes fighters, several avatars overcome with a stoicism revealing a spirit full of energy, on November 26, 2021, at 90 years of age, Pedro Martínez Cutillas left us, with indelible mark, orphans of his friendship and his affection.

He was a visionary and an entrepreneur who set an example of lucid intelligence, perseverance and vision of the future, with a friendly manner, a warm expression and a straightforward look. He believed in the company as a community of people and a source of personal fulfilment for those who work there. He had a clear understanding of the social role that any business implies and that the key factor for a fair and egalitarian society was work, which he strove all his life to generate. He valued art and all expressions of the human spirit that showed its beauty and dignity. Few people like him seriously tried to be coherent in their way of life. Respected and valued by all who knew him, he did not seek applause. He developed a full existence and a career full of triumphs in all the fields he addressed.

Pedro was born on April 8, 1931 in Jumilla, province of Murcia (Spain).

From a very early age, he showed his entrepreneurial interests. In his hometown and at just 16 years old, he set up a retreading workshop, which eventually had six workers. He used to say, with a certain degree of sarcasm, that at that age he had already achieved what many would take years to achieve: owning his own company.

Three years later, he showed his entrepreneurial interests. He used to say, with a certain degree of sarcasm, that at the age of sixteen he had already achieved what many would take much longer to achieve: his own company. In his hometown he set up a retreading workshop, which eventually had six workers. We are talking about a young entrepreneur who at that time was only 16 years old.

After three years, driven by his great interest in discovering new horizons, he sold the workshop and moved to Madrid. It was at that time, when already moved by his innate vitality and curiosity for all knowledge, that he took advantage of his voluntary military service to obtain the title of physical education teacher and parachuting instructor from the Spanish Air Force school.

Convinced that the rivet had to disappear, he dedicated, at the same time, all his time and effort to specialize in the new welding techniques that were being introduced in Spain at that time, coming from the United States and other European countries, and to whose development he contributed decisively.

His restless disposition soon bore great results.

Pedro moved to Barcelona with a contract for the electrification of the railway line between Mataró and Barcelona, which involved the installation of new metal towers and required the participation of specialized companies. This first business was done as a subcontractor of a company that worked directly for RENFE. It is obvious that in his early twenties, with no more capital than his hopes and dreams, undertaking such an enterprise required the participation of many people. Pedro sought them out, encouraged them, trained them and counted on them to carry out this task as well as other successive contracts.

Over time, what started as a company specialized in welding evolved. New fields of activity were initiated related to the assembly of equipment for chemical, petrochemical, automotive hydraulics and other sectors representative of what has come to be called heavy and semi-heavy industry.

Aware of the importance of training for the correct development of his work, he enrolled in economics and combined his studies with the management of his company. This training confirmed a theory that practice and experience had already taught him: that one of the reasons for business success is to direct business ideas towards unique products or services, with little or no competition. If the entrepreneur has such an idea, he used to say, his struggle is to impose an idea, not to fight with others to keep it.

Tireless, Pedro became involved in other projects, promoting the creation of various tourist centers on the Wild Coast (Costa Brava), in the field of urban planning and civil engineering. This is how the CONDADO DE JARUCO, VINYA ROSA and LOS PINARES urbanizations were born, which consolidated themselves as one of the best and avant-garde real estate developments, in the tourism sector of the time, on the spanish coast.

Doctor Honoris Causa by the Johnson and Wales University (Providence, U.S.A.), Pedro was a member of several business-oriented and cultural associations and his outstanding career was rewarded by several awards in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Simultaneously with his intense business activity, his passion for art and history encouraged him to promote many different projects. A great art collector, he supported and encouraged young artists on numerous occasions, contributing to their consolidation through his patronage.

In the same way, his love of history led him to complete his university studies in this subject at the faculty of geography and history at the University of Barcelona.

An expert and deeply in love with Panama, for more than 30 years he focused his attention on the history of that country, delving into its culture and promoting interesting historiographic research, both in the Archive of the Indies and in different national and international archives.

Part of this research came to light with the publication of his works “Panamá Colonial: Historia e Imagen” (2006) y “Veragua en el siglo XVI: Historia e Imagen” (2010), on the occasion of the 5th centenary of the death of Christopher Columbus. All of his copies, published without any lucrative or commercial purpose, were donated and sent to libraries, universities and cultural institutions all over the world.

In recognition of these merits, the Government of the Republic of Panama and the president of its executive body, His Excellency Mr. Martín Torrijos Espino, head of State and Government, granted him, on March 1, 2007, the national decoration of the Vasco Núñez de Balboa Order in the rank of Commander, which constitutes the highest distinction granted by the State to recognize effort and dedication of those who have contributed positively to the progress of the country and who received, through a solemn act, from the hands of the Hon. Samuel Lewis Navarro, first vice president and minister of foreign affairs and Dr. Arístides Royo Sánchez, former president of the Republic and ambassador permanent representative of Panama to the Organization of American States (OAS), in the presence of the ambassador of Spain in Panama, Hon. Gerardo Zaldívar Miquelarena and His Most Reverend Eminence, José Dimas Cedeño, archbishop of Panama.

The Ministry of Labor and Labor Development made public its recognition declaring him collaborator and honorary consultant of this ministry and designating him as mediator emeritus for the agreement and understanding between the peoples of Panama and the world. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s Office of Panama city named him ilustrious visitor of the city.

A year later, on April 9, 2008, in gratitude for his significant contribution to panamanian historiography, he was awarded the title of “Doctor Honoris Causa” in an illustrious ceremony held in the University Auditorium, before members of the diplomatic corps, the second vice president of the Republic, Rubén Arosemena, the archbishop of Panama, Monsignor José Dimas Cedeño, the council of rectors, historians, intellectuals and other special guests.

“I am deeply honored. This academic appointment fills me with pride”, he expressed, during his dissertation, after receiving the distinction from the Most Excellent and Magnificent Rector of the University of Panama, Gustavo García de Paredes, representing the entire teaching hierarchy and the academic community. García de Paredes, due to its relevance, wanted to highlight that, in 72 years, the honoris causa doctorate has only been received by twelve personalities, between nationals and foreigners. He described to Pedro Martínez Cutillas as “a full-fledged humanist”. He highlighted his temper, his desire to know, his intuitive capacity and his love for art, knowledge and history.

“For one month a year, between 1544 and 1739, the panamanian isthmus became the economic center of the empire, like a Wall Street of the time, where two-thirds of the silver produced in the spanish possessions of the New World for their exchange in terms of goods that were shipped from Seville in the galleons of Tierra Firme,” said Pedro Martínez Cutillas, in his applauded investiture speech, titled “Panama in the First Globalization of the World Economy”.

On May 22, 2009, honored and supported by the highest honor that the nation Chancellery can confer on a citizen of any state, he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Panama to the Kingdom of Spain, member of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited in spanish territory for encouraging relationship development of an economic, cultural and scientific nature between both countries.

Subsequently, on July 12, 2012, believing in the need to contribute values ​​to society, with the discretion and humility that characterized him, he decided to create the Pedro Martínez Cutillas Foundation in order to continuously expand and rethink the cultural environment, education and artistic activities through research, dissemination and training activities in these areas, affecting in a lasting way its heritage to the realization of general interest purposes.

It is always difficult to honour the merits of a loved one without eliminating subjectivity. But, in spite of this, to his important vital and professional achievements, we can add his exceptional human qualities and his great personality. Pedro was a cultured and enlightened man, a tireless worker and an affable and approachable being who was a pleasure to talk to. He made us all who were close to him better. He made us better as people. His self-taught, enthusiastic and brilliant character was, in our family, an example to follow and a constant source of inspiration. For all these reasons and many others we feel deep sorrow. And a great sadness.

We were lucky to know Pedro for more than 50 years. Together we create great unique and unforgettable moments. Today, in his goodbye, we feel extremely proud to have enjoyed his extraordinary person and grateful to have been part of a wonderful and exciting life, his own, which has defeated and overcome death because it could not prevent his memory, his words, his always positive outlook on life, and all his virtues, live forever in our memory and in our hearts.

To the memory of Pedro Martínez Cutillas, from the most endearing memory of someone who known how to be sober, loyal and affectionate in their friendship. On behalf of many people in many places that you made us better, see you always and thank you, Pedro.

Francisco Massó Mora.

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