The Entrecanales family is one most successful Spanish business families due to their exclusive ownership of Acciona SA, a conglomerate with a variety of interests, including construction, water, industrial services and renewable energy. The family patriarch is engineer and entrepreneur José Entrecanales Ibarra, who co-founded the engineering company Entrecanales y Távora with partner Manuel Távora in 1931. After Manuel Távora’s death in 1940, José took over full control of the company and supervised huge construction projects, such as the extension of the Madrid-Barajas Airport, the construction of the Atazar de Madrid dam and the Bilbao Bank Building in Madrid. In 1970, José Entrecanales Ibarra handed over control of the family business to his sons, José María and Juan Entrecanales de Azcárate. The brothers saw the company through a booming period of growth and expansion, culminating in the creation of Acciona SA in 1997. In 2004, the brothers stepped down and were succeeded by their respective sons, José Manuel Entrecanales and Juan Ignacio Entrecanales. José Manuel Entrecanales married María Carrión, and together they have four children, José, Gonzalo, Clotilde and Gerardo. In 2019, Forbes estimated the family fortune to be around US$3.6 billion.
