French managerial networks in Franco’s Spain: the Conseil National du Patronat Français, 1946-1966

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the performance in Spain of the French managerial organization Conseil National du Patronat Français (CNPF), since its foundation, in 1946, up to the resignation of its first president, Georges Villiers, in 1966. During these years, despite the political tensions between both countries, the CNPF held regular contacts with some of the main Spanish policy-makers. The supply of information, the sending of experts’ missions and the exchange of visits among leaders particularly sustained that relationship. The CNPF businessmen explored the possibilities of Spain’s economic growth, extended the channels of dialogue with relevant people within the Spanish government and signed several commercial and financial agreements. At last, entrepreneurs managed to weave in Spain wider, more active and more profitable networks than those of politics, setting ways of approaching and feeding links that turned out to be decisive in the sixties.