[2] Many of their members served either in the Spanish administration or in the military;[3] because of their overseas duties, the family became very branched with some of its descendants noted in history of various Latin American countries, notably Cuba[4] and Bolivia.

Antonio modernized the fleet by switching to steamers and operated new regular routes both on the Atlantic and on the Mediterranean, opening a base in Santander and trying to serve also Northern Europe and the Far East.

[8] Serving as councillor in ayuntamiento[9] and with members of other Martínez de Pinillo branches acting as top local officials, Antonio became the provincial business mogul; the family grew among the most prominent ones in Cádiz.

[12] None of the sources consulted provides information on his early schooling; he intended to join the navy, but in his teens he was sent to England to receive commercial education in London.

Spain’s loss of overseas holdings dramatically reduced demand for transatlantic communication in the 1900s, a series of massively tragic naval disasters shattered the company image when Príncipe de Asturias and Valbanera sank in the 1910s[22] and the post-war crisis hit the company hard in the early 1920s; as a result, Pinillos, Izquierdo y Cia shut down in 1921, selling its assets to Compañia Transoceanica de Navegación.

Until the late 1920s its most typical operations were exports of fruits from the Canary Islands to Britain and return cruises to Spanish ports with the load of British coal.

[28] The vessels operated also on other routes along the Atlantic Northern African coast and across the Mediterranean, calling at Moroccan, French or Italian ports.

His default strategy relied on purchasing new ships from Spanish and foreign shipyards, mostly in the Vascongadas (Ardanaz from Baracaldo and Euskalduna from Bilbao) and in Scotland (Robert Duncan & Co in Glasgow and Caledon in Dundee), though occasionally coming from other manufacturers like the Norwegian Verksted Kristiansand.

[32] Though his business focus was on merchant maritime transportation, Martínez de Pinillos remained engaged in a number of other economic activities, most of them inherited from his father; in historiography he is referred to also as „comerciante”, „industrial” and „terrateniente”.

[35] In the neighboring province of Seville Martínez de Pinillos possessed land estates totaling 2,625 ha,[36] all located along the banks of the Guadalquivir near Villanueva del Rio.

[40] Already in the late 19th century known in the local press as „conocido comerciante”,[41] later on Martínez de Pinillos emerged as tycoon of the provincial economy, his wealth translating into position in a number of corporative bodies, institutions and pressure groups.

[45] He is not known to have performed any official duties in local administration, though during his Cortes tenure he occasionally represented the Cádiz ayuntamiento in some business dealings.

[52] Though his cousin Sebastian Martínez de Pinillos was in 1918 elected to Cortes from Cádiz on the conservative ticket,[53] none of the sources consulted refers to Miguel’s political activity during the Restauración period.

[59] During Dictablanda he seemed leaning towards a cautious "law and order" stance, as late as in February 1931 presiding over initiatives in support of the army and Guardia Civil.

He joined Comisión de Marina[68] but did not speak a single time during the plenary chamber sessions,[69] which did not spare him mockery in Republican press.

[74] Taking advantage of his wealth, he was rather listed among those who financially supported Carlist sport ventures,[75] Traditionalist labor organizations[76] and the party press.

[77] Martínez de Pinillos is not noted as engaged in the 1936 electoral campaign; according to one source, following outbreak of the Civil War he withdrew from active politics.

As the rebels lacked international recognition, in Genoa Ebro was renamed to Aniene, operated by an Italian company; it is not clear to what extent Pinillos engineered the plot.

[88] After the war Martínez de Pinillos narrowed the scope of his business further on and focused entirely on transporting fruits; in 1940 he renamed the company to Compañia Marítima Frutera.