Santiago Alba y Bonifaz

Born to a middle class family with important political connections, he was the son of Obdulia Bonifaz (a relative of Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla) and of César Alba García Oyuelos, a prominent Valladolid lawyer.

[1] He married Enriqueta Delibes in 1897 and began his political career in the elections of 1901, as a representative of the party Unión Nacional, earning a seat in the Cortes as deputy for Valladolid province.

He served as Minister of Housing from 30 April 1916 to 11 June 1917 under Romanotes and García Prieto, and adopted the ideas of the movement known as Regeneracionismo.

During his second term as Minister of Housing (9 November - 5 December 1918), he concerned himself with food supply and transportation issues caused by the First World War.

During the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Alba exiled himself to France but returned in Spain in 1930.