Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros y Bernaldo de Quirós


Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros y Bernaldo de Quirós is a Spanish executive and civil servant. He is the 4th Marquis of Valtierra.

Biography

He was born on 18 March 1944 in Madrid. He is son of Francisco Javier Espinosa de los Monteros y Herreros de Tejada and Galinda de la Guardia Bernaldo de Quirós y Alcalá Galiano. Through his father, he is grandson of, a prominent military officer and diplomat, and grandnephew of, Ambassador to Nazi Germany. Through his mother he is grandson of, MP and Grandee of Spain, and Consuelo Alcalá-Galiano y Osma, Lady to the Queen, and great-grandson of Emilio Alcalá Galiano, Minister of State during the reign of Alfonso XII.
He obtained a degree in Law at the Complutense University of Madrid and in Business Administration at the ICADE, and later an MBA at Northwestern University. He joined the Corps of Commercial Technicians of the State in 1969. On 30 March 1970, Espinosa de los Monteros married María Eugenia de Simón y Vallarino, whom he has had 5 children with, including Beltrán, CFO of Stradivarius, and Iván, Vice-Secretary for Foreign Relations of the far-right party Vox.
He served as Vice-President of the Instituto Nacional de Industria. Espinosa de los Monteros became Chairman of Iberia and Aviaco in 1983, leaving both posts in March 1985. He inherited the nobiliary title of Marquis of Valtierra from his father in 1985. From 1988 to 2009 he served as chairman and CEO of Mercedes Benz Spain. In March 1992 he was elected President of the as substitute of, serving in this capacity until 2000.
In 2012, Espinosa de los Monteros—serving by the time as Vice-President of Inditex—was appointed by the Government of Mariano Rajoy to the post of High Commissioner for the 'Marca España', tasked with the representation of private firms abroad through financement from funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was sworn in on 12 July 2012. Following the accession of Pedro Sánchez to the post of Prime Minister in June 2018, he was removed from office in October 2018, with the High Commissariat replaced by the Secretariat of State for Global Spain.

Decorations