Demetrio Carceller Coll died this Friday at his residence in Galapagar, in Madrid, at the age of 93. The son and father of businessmen, he dedicated his professional career to very different sectors, from banking to energy to food. He founded several companies with a national presence and outside of Spain.
Carceller Coll was the son of Demetrio Carceller Segura, who was Minister of Industry during the Franco regime, between 1940 and 1945, as well as the promoter of the oil companies Cepsa, of which he was founder, and Campsa.
The businessman who died this Friday decided to continue the family’s commitment to fuel-related businesses and founded the DISA group, the first Canarian company for the distribution of energy products and the first independent operator of service stations nationwide under the Shell banner.
Demetrio Carceller Coll developed intense business activity in Catalonia. He was the first shareholder of the Damm group of food and beverage companies, the historic brewery in Barcelona, ??of which he became president, a position currently held by his son, Demetrio Carceller Arce. At DISA he also serves as president.
Demetrio Carceller Coll was involved in a case of tax fraud related to the so-called ‘Panama Papers’, an investigation in which the Prosecutor’s Office requested a 48-year prison sentence for him for crimes against the Public Treasury and money laundering. The businessman pretended to live abroad to avoid paying taxes when, in reality, he had established his residence in Galapagar. But Carceller avoided prison thanks to an agreement with the public ministry. He paid 93 million euros to the public treasury.
The deceased businessman was also president of the so-called Bancotrans, the Transatlantic Commercial Bank. His objective was to become a financial entity specialized in providing services for companies of all types. And he achieved it, being of great use to the Catalan economy. Bancotrans has a curious history. After World War II all German properties in Spain were frozen and sold by the dictatorship. In 1950, Bancotrans was born, which took charge of the confiscated assets. Three years later, Deutsche Ueberseeische Bank begins negotiations to re-enter the capital of Bancotrans.
In fact, Carceller Coll boasted that his main activity was banking, although he was also a director of companies such as Sevillana de Electricidad, where he stood out for his refusal to support the sale of the electricity company to the Endesa Group.
Real estate businesses, such as a network of shopping centers in the United States, agriculture and livestock are also among the business career of Demetrio Carceller Coll. He lived between Spain and Portugal.
The businessman has been the patriarch of an extensive family saga. Married María del Carmen Arce, who died a few days ago, Carceller Coll was the father of five children. Prominent among them is Demetrio Carceller Arce, who has maintained family business businesses. Currently he is president of Damm, DISA and vice president of Ebro Foods and Sacyr.
