[1] He was the son of Dr. Jerome Salvà Pontich, a staff physician at Barcelona General Hospital and Eulalia Campillo, his mother came from a wealthy family that worked in the pharmacy industry.

[1] During his adolescence, his extraordinary abilities attracted the attention of the Bishop of Barcelona, Josep Climent, who advised his parents to let him study medicine in Valencia.

[3] The presentation of Salva attracted the attention of government and he received a formal invitation to demonstrate his telegraphic skills before the Royal Family in Aranjuez.

Along with these works, he bequeathed to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Barcelona a sum of four thousand pounds and in accordance with his will, his heart is preserved in an urn, with his books at the same location.

[citation needed] Artist Paul DeMarinis was inspired by Salva for his work The Messenger (1998–2006), which examines the myths of electricity in communication.