La casa del Tío Lobo in Portmán

Designed by Victor Beltrí for Miguel Zapata Sáez

By far the most imposing and historic residential building in Portmán is known as the “Casa Zapata” or “Casa del Tío Lobo”, a palatial Modernist residence designed by Víctor Beltrí for one of the most important figures in the history of La Unión.

Miguel Zapata Sáez was arguably the most successful entrepreneur in the mining boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Cartagena and La Unión, building up a vast fortune and acquiring large tracts of land during the course of a life which began in San Javier in 1841.

He is said to have acquired the nickname “El Tío Lobo” (the Wolf Man) when defending his family’s cattle from a pack of wolves as a young man, killing some of the animals and driving the others away. Rumour has it that he kept the stuffed heads of some of his victims as a memento of the episode, although no evidence has confirmed this tale.

Not long afterwards he moved to El Llano del Beal, where he ran a small bar and shop for passing shepherds, but he soon became involved in the mining concerns in the Sierra Minera, and eventually became by far the wealthiest man in the boom town of Portmán.

Here he owned two of the three foundries, named La Orcelitana and La Purísima Concepción, and in 1890 he founded the company Maquinista de Levante in La Unión. The factory of Maquinista de Levante produced heavy-duty mining machinery, and became the chief supplier for all the mines in the Sierra Minera and Mazarrón.

Prior to that, in 1874 he built a two-kilometre cable-car system to transport ores from his mine in the La Crisoleja area to the port of Portmán, having seen similar such devices in operation on visits to Cardiff and Swansea. Further such transportation systems followed, carrying goods for export by the fleet of merchant vessels which this tireless businessman acquired.

Miguel Zapata’s legacy consists not only of the industrial empire he built in La Unión and Portmán, but also of his descendants. He collaborated closely with José Maestre Pérez, a local politician who became a Minister in the national government and governor of the Banco de España, and Maestre married Zapata’s daughter María Visitación. When she died, he then married her sister María Obdulia, and their son José Maestre Zapata not only took over Zapata’s mining company but was also instrumental in the development of La Manga ( click La Manga for full history) as a tourist destination in the 1950s and 60s. The name of another descendant, Tomás Maestre, lives on as the name given to the port of La Manga.
Miguel Zapata Sáez, El Tío Lobo, died in his palatial Portmán home in 1918.

The house in which he lived in Portmán was designed by renowned modernist architect Víctor Beltrí and was reconstructed in 1913. Beltrí was responsible for many of the Modernist buildings which still adorn the centre of Cartagena, including the Palacio de Aguirre and the Gran Hotel, and also contributed to the design of the Antiguo Mercado Público which hosts the Cante de las Minas flamenco festival in La Unión.

Unfortunately the house is now in a poor state of repair, but the façades and some of the rooms inside are still intact and the ornate touches favoured by Victor Beltrí can be clearly seen, even in the current state of dilapidation.

The Casa del Tío Lobo is located in the higher part of Portmán, and from here Miguel Zapata could look out over the port which lay at the centre of his empire rather than following many other successful mining entrepreneurs to the city of Cartagena. An office building was annexed to the main house enabling him to run his business from Portmán, and behind it was a large garden.

Among the most outstanding details are the wrought iron balconies and the carved stone figures above the first-floor windows, as well as the oriental-style dome with its zinc roof.

The house stands at the corner of Calle de Castelar and Calle Martín Alonso in Portmán.