He was the only son of José María Madrigal, who emigrated from Barcelona, Spain, a Catalan migrant and former soldier, and Macaria López y Pardo de Tavera, a Castilian mestiza.

Macaria was one of two natural daughters of Joaquín Pardo de Tavera who lived in Albay as a bachelor prior to his marriage to Gertrudis Gorricho, a wealthy heiress.

His mother, nicknamed Nena, teased him that his paper boats would not take him too far away and his reply was always that one day he would take his mom and dad away on his real ship across the seas to visit Spain, his father's dying wish.

With his father depending on a small pension, the family exploited its military connections with the Escuela Nautica who were close with the friars who owned San Juan de Letran.

In the shipping business, his Madrigal Steamship Company did not begin to return profits until after his mother's death, frustrating his childhood dream of bringing his parents to Spain.

[citation needed] Madrigal attributed this situation to the loss of the good luck that his wife Susana brought to his life, for she died a few months before the war began and left him a widower raising five girls and two boys.

This allowed Madrigal to expand into the commodities market, selling sugar and palm oil, as well as claiming real estate, which he primarily disposed of to increase his shares in growing companies.

She was responsible for the purchase of the Madrigal property where the old Jai Alai fronton used to stand, as well as buildings near her aunts' mansions on Calle Hidalgo, Quiapo, Manila and its adjacent streets.

Today, Ayala Alabang's mango trees are her visible legacies in the mini-city, which features schools, Madrigal Business Park, and even a Polo field named after the family.

He was frightened at how agricultural holdings like haciendas owned by great Spanish families in the Philippines remained idle, or worse, were confiscated or expropriated ad absentia by the government or unscrupulous encargados.

In a desperate move, Madrigal was named as respondent by Pardo de Tavera, seeking to nullify the Motion to Foreclose by its creditor El Hogar Filipino, on the basis that he signed some of the papers involved in the loan.

This caused a scandal among business circles at that time, although, in deference to other involved families including the Legarda and Roces clans, no specific accounts were published in the leading newspapers.