Juan is first recorded as holding Álava in November 1174, when he was in Pamplona to witness the charter of the village of Villanueva de Araquil (Hiriberri).
Although his father maintained his independence of action by dividing his allegiance between King Sancho VI of Navarre and King Alfonso VIII of Castile, Juan does not appear to have ever attended the Castilian court while he was lord of Álava.
[2] There is no record of Juan governing Álava in 1178, after the arbitral decision of Henry II of England the previous year.
[4] It is unknown in what circumstances Juan was removed from Álava, but before the year was out Sancho had taken over the county.
On 21 March he signed as a witness the treaty of Medina de Rioseco, which ended a war (1179–81) between Castile and León and defined their border around the river Cea.