History

History

The Villa Carmen, also reknown as El Pla, is an impressive residence, its square outlines wonderfully blending into a magnificent garden of partially centennial trees, once belonging to the manor of San José del Pla.

It is said that all lands to be seen from the cupola of the two-storied building at times were part of the landgraves estates.

Don Francisco de Ayguavives de León and his wife Carmen Cuatrecasas Ginebra constructed the house in 1910 as main residence for themselves and their twelve children.

Presumably originating in France, the family Ayguavives can be traced back to the 16th century in the documents at the community of Vinaroz (Castellón). Parts of the family took up residence in Alcanar in the 18th century, bringing forth numerous important sons, including high ranking clerics, politicians, military officers as well as established lawyers and architects. Don Francisco de Ayguavives de León, being one of these descendants, was a highly reputable man of an aristocratic family, reknown beyond the borders of the province.

		Don Francisco de Ayguavives de León (1870-1935) was born in Madrid as godson of Alfonso XII. He was legal heir of the title Marqués de Zambrano and one of the initiators for the construction of the then substantial bridge across the Ebro in Tortosa.
His good name reached all the way to Barcelona, as he was son of Don Juan de Ayguavives de Vasallo, who had served under the Kings Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII as emissary from the court with royal honor. Additionally he was Vizconde (Viscount) de la Encarnada and professor at the University of Granada. His mother Dña. Isabel de León y de Ibarrola, daughter of General Don Diego de León y Navarrete, was lady-in-waiting to Maria Luisa, Viscount of Villa Robledo and Vicereine of Navarra. She was one of the most powerful personalities of the Spanish court.
		Dña. Carmen Cuatrecasas Ginebra(1874-1938) was born in Barcelona and it is her the gorgeous Villa Carmen is named after.
Dña. Carmen Cuatrecasas Ginebra is the daughter of Antonio Cuatrecasas Pecamins and Matilde Ginebra Pou, whose wealth grounded on their sugar cane plantations in the Antilles. The slim and imperishable Douglas Fir beams the scaffold of the Villa Carmen is built of come from those landholdings. The Villa Carmen, always full of life, was a silent witness of good and bad times, of the prime of life but also of decline. A mansion bringing shelter to the life within and withstanding the blows of history with its thick walls, making the life motto of the Ayguavives family its own: "The less you fear death, the more it strengthens your life". Owing to Agnes Brenner, the Villa Carmen shines in new splendor. And even if not all wounds time has added have yet perished, we are convinced they will eventually vanish. All of us, and especially those of us who remember this house in unforgettable memories of our childhood and youth, will stay thankful forever. Happy Millenium - Villa Carmen ! Ignacio Spá de Ayguavives María del Carmen Puig de Ayguavives Juan Jesús Puig de Ayguavives