José María Ruiz Mateos
Encyclopedia
José María Ruiz-Mateos y Jiménez de Tejada (born in Rota on 11 April 1931) is a Spanish
businessman.
He began by exporting wine
to England
. He founded the conglomerate Rumasa
and had a lot of influence in Spanish society. In 1983, the government of Spain (the Socialist Party
was in office at the time and led by Felipe González
) expropriated the company. The government alleged that Rumasa had failed to pay millions of dollars in mandatory taxes to the national treasury. The government also claimed that Rumasa was in virtual bankruptcy
and that it was still afloat thanks solely to imaginative accounting by the auditing department of the company. Ruiz Mateos disagreed with this assessment. He sued the government for compensation, but has yet to win in court.
He was imprisoned on charges of currency smuggling, fraud and tax evasion.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03EED71F38F930A35751C1A963948260
After several years in jail, he went back into public life, became the owner of the Rayo Vallecano
football (soccer) team in 1991, and formed his own political party, as part of which he was elected to the European Parliament
in 1989 http://www-org.elecciones.mir.es/MIR/jsp/resultados/index.htm. He also founded a new holding company, New Rumasa (16,000 employees).
There have been multiple and various court rulings on the case Rumasa both in Spain and outside Spain, and both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have spoken on numerous judgments.
Ruíz Mateos was acquitted in 1999 by the Spanish Supreme Court http://www.cincodias.com/articulo/empresas/Rumasa/colea/lustros/despues/cdsemp/20030222cdscdiemp_9/Tes/.
He was a well-known member of Opus Dei
, though he was later expelled from the group.
Ruíz Mateos is the father of 13 sons and daughters http://www.elmundo.es/nuevaeconomia/2005/262/1108854001.html.
On February 17th, 2011, the ten largest companies within the Nueva Rumasa group were declared in default and unable to make payments to their creditors after the Spanish Social Security, Royal Bank of Scotland and others requested that liens be placed on the companies' assets, nearly twenty-eight years to the day on which his original holding company, Rumasa, was expropriated
by the Spanish government.
. The Foundation museum, created in 2005, is located in an old family house dated at 1865.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
businessman.
He began by exporting wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He founded the conglomerate Rumasa
Rumasa
Rumasa was a holding company founded by Spanish entrepreneur José María Ruiz Mateos and expropriated by the Spanish government on February 23, 1983.In 1982 Rumasa constituted 2% of the Spanish GDP...
and had a lot of influence in Spanish society. In 1983, the government of Spain (the Socialist Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
was in office at the time and led by Felipe González
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
) expropriated the company. The government alleged that Rumasa had failed to pay millions of dollars in mandatory taxes to the national treasury. The government also claimed that Rumasa was in virtual bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and that it was still afloat thanks solely to imaginative accounting by the auditing department of the company. Ruiz Mateos disagreed with this assessment. He sued the government for compensation, but has yet to win in court.
He was imprisoned on charges of currency smuggling, fraud and tax evasion.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03EED71F38F930A35751C1A963948260
After several years in jail, he went back into public life, became the owner of the Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D., often abbreviated to Rayo, is a Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas...
football (soccer) team in 1991, and formed his own political party, as part of which he was elected to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in 1989 http://www-org.elecciones.mir.es/MIR/jsp/resultados/index.htm. He also founded a new holding company, New Rumasa (16,000 employees).
There have been multiple and various court rulings on the case Rumasa both in Spain and outside Spain, and both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have spoken on numerous judgments.
Ruíz Mateos was acquitted in 1999 by the Spanish Supreme Court http://www.cincodias.com/articulo/empresas/Rumasa/colea/lustros/despues/cdsemp/20030222cdscdiemp_9/Tes/.
He was a well-known member of Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
, though he was later expelled from the group.
Ruíz Mateos is the father of 13 sons and daughters http://www.elmundo.es/nuevaeconomia/2005/262/1108854001.html.
On February 17th, 2011, the ten largest companies within the Nueva Rumasa group were declared in default and unable to make payments to their creditors after the Spanish Social Security, Royal Bank of Scotland and others requested that liens be placed on the companies' assets, nearly twenty-eight years to the day on which his original holding company, Rumasa, was expropriated
Expropriation
Expropriation is the politically motivated and forceful confiscation and redistribution of private property outside the common law. Unlike eminent domain or laws regulating the foreign investment, expropriation takes place outside the common law and may be used to denote an armed robbery by...
by the Spanish government.
Foundation Ruiz Mateos
The Foundation Ruiz-Mateos was created in the year 1978 under the sponsorship of the family Ruiz-Mateos, with a cultural purpose, especially in the field of the plastic arts, music and literature. This Foundation deliver an annual award called "Villa de Rota" in these three areas. The Foundation collection of Contemporary Art, is nourished from these contests and from the donations of the exhibitors that make use of their rooms of expositions. Among other artists, the museums exhibits works by Manuel Benitez Reyes, Wenceslao Robles and Francisco LuqueFrancisco Luque
Francisco Luque Palma is a Spanish sculptor.- Biography :Born in 1948, at the beginning of the 70s he starts his studies at the School of Applied Arts in Cordoba, Spain and starts participating in collective expositions in the region of Córdoba and Jaén . He is mostly autodidactic, splitting his...
. The Foundation museum, created in 2005, is located in an old family house dated at 1865.