Teodoro de Mas y Nadal

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Teodoro de Mas y Nadal (1858–1936) was a Spanish engineer and Carlist politician who did most of his work in Catalonia, with projects also in other parts of Spain and in Argentina. He contributed to the development of railways, roads, water management and energy infrastructure, and he supported the Traditionalist Carlist cause.

Family background and early life
Mas came from the long‑standing Mas family of Osona. His great‑grandfather Teodoro de Mas Solá fought against the French in the Peninsular War and married Joaquina de Vedruna, who later founded a Carmelite charity and was declared a saint. His grandfather, Joaquín José de Mas y de Vedruna, supported the Carlist cause and went into exile after the war. His father, Luis de Mas y Poudevida, studied geodesy in France, worked in hydraulic engineering, ran a technical college in Barcelona, and helped manage a local railway. Teodoro was the third child but the first son. As a teenager he joined the legitimists in the Third Carlist War, served in the Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros, earned the Cruz del Mérito Militar after the battle of Lumbier, and was later exiled in France. He studied engineering, probably in France, and returned to Spain by 1883. In 1884 he married Josefa Bach Puig, and they had at least seven children.

Engineering career
Mas worked as a civil engineer, specializing in railways, roads, hydro‑technical works and power generation. His projects were mainly in Catalonia, but he also worked in Salamanca, La Mancha and Argentina. Notable endeavors include early hydro projects at Saltos del Duero in Salamanca, plans related to the Monellots fountains near Vich, and a bold idea to pipe water from the Noguera Pallaresa river to Barcelona over about 100 kilometers. In 1901 he obtained a license to exploit waters of the Ter river in Northern Catalonia; the business faced difficulties but continued into the early 1910s. He built a hydroelectric plant at Molí de Sau on his own estate, delivering electricity to Vich and distributing it further for domestic use. He was active in railway development from the 1880s to the 1900s, including work in Salamanca and promotions in Corrientes, Argentina. He also contributed to road construction in Albacete and helped design a La Fé ceramics factory in Buenos Aires.

Political activity
Mas joined Carlist circles in Vich in 1889 and rose to leadership roles. By 1916 he was named head of the Catalan comarcal Carlist structures in Vich, and in 1917 he joined the Catalan Junta Regional. He led the Comité de Acción Política and ran for the Barcelona Diputación Provincial in 1917, though he did not win. In 1918 he co‑signed a Traditionalist manifesto advocating a corporative suffrage system, a moderate monarchy, regional establishments, protectionist economics, limited military service and a degree of church–state separation. After the 1919 split within Carlism led by Vázquez de Mella, Mas joined the Mellistas and became a leading figure for Catalan Mellistas, organizing rallies and coordinating electoral work. He attended major Mellista gatherings, including a 1922 assembly in Zaragoza.

When Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship began in 1923, Mas initially supported the regime but grew skeptical of centralizing policies that he felt harmed Catalonia. By the late 1920s the Vich branch of the Traditionalists withdrew from Primo de Rivera’s structures, though some members joined other groups. After the Second Republic began in 1931 Mas rejoined the Comunión Tradicionalista, regaining the status of a traditionalist elder statesman rather than taking a formal party post. He made occasional public appearances and donations to the cause.

Death
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Mas fled to his estate near Vilanova de Sau. A few weeks later, he was located by an anti‑fascist hit squad led by Vicenç Coma Cruells and was shot at his home, along with his son‑in‑law.