PHILANTHROPIST
Let’s Make a Better Society
Equality of opportunity greatly concerned (and occupied) Luis Valls. He believed that there is no just society without this equality among human beings. While many think this is utopian, Luis Valls made it feasible when formulated person by person, focusing on the immediate and the concrete. This does not necessarily mean small-scale actions.
Stories about people
As an example, here is an anecdote1 shared by Ángel Rivera, who was Luis Valls’s chief of staff for many years and is now the CEO of Santander Spain: “One day, he asked if I had read an article in El País about auctioneers who had repossessed a home from a couple in a town in southern Madrid. After reading it, my comment was: what a tough break.
‘It would be a good thing if we could help them,’ he said—I never heard a direct order from him. And so we did, with money, lawyers… with discretion, which was how he liked to do things. It was hard work because the couple couldn’t believe he wanted nothing in return, not even that they should tell the journalist who wrote the article.
Today, they live peacefully in a house they own. I won’t say more out of loyalty and discretion, though I could easily fill pages with this kind of actions.” Miguel Ángel Prieto, another of his chiefs of staff and currently the head of Banco de Depósitos, has other stories:
“He was very interested in cases involving neighborhood kids with drug problems. He wanted them to get out of that environment and study, so he contacted Enrique de Castro, known as the ‘red priest,’ who was doing important work with young people in Vallecas.
Other times, it was, for example, a group of nurses who were going to Cuba during their vacations to teach others there and who needed funding for the trip and the stay. And, of course, one of his most special initiatives was the City of Boys project in Leganés (CEMU). They requested help, and Luis Valls went there to see the atmosphere. The person in charge was the well-known Uncle Alberto, whom he met many times before granting the money and with whom he became friends over time.”
Money to do good
It is well known that despite having one of the lowest salaries of all the presidents of Spanish financial institutions, Luis Valls donated much of it to foundations aimed at increasing opportunities for people. He personally handled the requests that came to his office. Every single request was answered, even if it was to say no, which was laborious but something Luis Valls considered essential. Many times, he said yes. That’s what the money and the foundations were for – although he was never president or trustee, but he followed their activities closely and intervened in their financing.
A priest who knew him well, José Alcázar Godoy2, understood from the beginning why he acted this way and explained it as follows: “Luis Valls thought that when used to do good, money is a valid instrument because it drives social progress, improves people’s quality of life, and allows for the creation of artistic works and the construction of churches, universities, roads, and homes.
Luis never loved money, but rather the good that could be done with it, first and foremost, for the bank’s employees and then for everyone else.”
Generosity with Discretion
Without fanfare. This is how Luis Valls liked to help. This is how he aimed to make society a better place: without publicity, without using his name or image. Journalist Juan Pablo Villanueva comments in an opinion piece3: “He was generous and attended to the poverty and needs of many and many types of people. Without fanfare, he directed the bank’s social responsibility and led its social action through foundations created for that purpose.”
Bibliography
(1) Article IN MEMORIAM – A Luis Valls written by Ángel Rivera, former secretary of Luis Valls and currently CEO of Santander Spain, in Expansión (27/02/2006). (2) Brochure Luis Valls. From banking to God (José Alcázar Godoy). (3) Gaceta de los Negocios (27/02/2006)
