He was named director of La Luisiana and Punto Mochales in the New Villages of Sierra Morena, the most ambitious project of the Spanish Enlightenment.
He was a supernumerary (1766) and meritorious (1771) member of the Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País; and Knight of the Order of Santiago (1795).
In this role, he supported Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés in preparations for one of the seven expeditions to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the North Pacific.
In fulfillment of the third [Nootka Convention] between Spain and the United Kingdom signed on 11 January 1794, in which both countries agreed to leave Nootka, during September of that year he was named as representative of the Spanish crown by the viceroy, the second Count of Revillagigedo, to replace the deceased Juan Francisco de la Bodega.
The official ceremony took place on 28 March 1795 with José Manuel de Álava representing Spain; and lieutenant Thomas Pearce for the United Kingdom.
"Recognized for his enlightened education and his diplomatic and military skills, his trajectory is a model Spanish American military career and a testimony of the interrelation between enlightened elites and the high command of the Bourbon Army"[2] Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the Contiguous United States, is named in his honor.
A. Martínez Salazar, Presencia alavesa en América y Filipinas (1700- 1825), Vitoria, Diputación Foral de Álava, 1988, págs.