The businessman Juan Miguel Villar Mir, founder of the industrial and real estate group that bears his name and former vice president of Real Madrid, died this Saturday in the Spanish capital at the age of 92, according to a press release from Ferroglobe, a company of the Villar Mir Group itself.
Born in Madrid in 1921, he graduated in Civil Engineering and later became a doctor following being the best student in his class. He studied in the United States and obtained two professorships by competitive examination at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, becoming a member of four Royal Academies, being a full member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
In 1967 he was appointed president of the National Fund for the Protection of Labour and later became president of Altos Hornos del Mediterráneo and Hidrónitro Española.
Without ever having officially belonged to any political party, Villar Mir was Minister of Finance during the Government of Carlos Arias Navarro and Third Vice President for Economic Affairs.
In the sporting field, Villar Mir briefly served as vice-president of Real Madrid under Ramón Mendoza. In November 1995, Mendoza resigned in a climate of anger due to clashes between Lorenzo Sanz and Villar Mir himself over the main seat in the box at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Ultimately, this responsibility led Sanz to take over the presidential post under Article 49 of the club’s Statutes, without the need to call elections. Thus, Sanz faced his first major project a season later while Villar Mir took a backseat.
However, in the summer of 2006, Villar Mir opted to be the president of Real Madrid on a ticket with the driver Carlos Sainz. Despite the media impact of the two-time world rally champion, this ticket came third in an election won by the lawyer Ramón Calderón, who beat Juan Palacios by a few votes.
