Juan Quintana Urra (1891-1974) was a Spanish hotelier,

bullfight Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms wh ...

businessman, and activist in the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

. He was the basis for the character Juanito Montoya in

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

's novel

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bu ...

Life in Pamplona

Quintana was born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, Spain in 1891, the eldest of three children of Ignacio Quintana Barreneche and Saturnina Urra Vizcar. His father worked as a postman. Quintana opened the Quintana Hotel at 18 Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona. The bullfighters who came to Pamplona usually stayed in the hotel. Juanito Quintana was a big aficionado and worked as an entrepreneur organizing bullfights. Between 1926 and 1930 he was president of Club Taurino in Pamplona. Quintana married Juana Mantecón Iturri (1911-1999) and had a son, Juan.Fernando Pérez Ollo, "Quintana, hotelero amigo", ''Diario de Navarra'', 2 de julio de 1999, p. 51.

Spanish Civil War and World War II

During the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

Quintana was a prominent Republican sympathizer and political organizing often took place in his hotel. In July 1936, at the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, Quintana was away from Pamplona, because he had gone to

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the ''Constantin Rozan ...

to see bullfights, which saved him from being a victim of repression against Republicans, but his hotel was requisitioned by the new authorities and he could never get it back. He settled for some years in France, where his brother Alberto ran a hotel in the town of

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

. In 1941 both brothers were able to return to Spain and settled in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Alberto Quintana was part of the Comet line, which helped Allied soldiers and airmen return to Britain during the Second World War after crossing the Basque-Navarre border on the way to Gibraltar.

Friendship with Ernest Hemingway

Juanito Quintana is known for his friendship with the writer

. In 1924, when Hemingway was in Madrid, the bullfighting critic Rafael Hernandez advised him to go to the

festival of San Fermin Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a legendary holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. His death may be associated with either the Decian persecution (250) or Dioc ...

in Pamplona and stay at the Hotel Quintana, where he could enjoy the best bullfighting atmosphere. He did, and Hemingway and Quintana struck up a close friendship which only ended with the writer's death. Hemingway stayed at the Hotel Quintana on his visits to Pamplona in 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929 and 1931. Quintana appears embodied in the character of Juanito Montoya, owner of the Hotel Montoya in the novel ''

'' of 1926. In the fifties, after a long absence from Spain, Hemingway returned and resumed their relationship. The Hotel Quintana no longer existed, but Juanito Quintana arranged accommodation on their visits to Pamplona in 1953 and 1959, and accompanied Hemingway in his travels through several cities, united by their love of bullfighting. Hemingway refers to him in ''

Death in the Afternoon ''Death in the Afternoon'' is a non-fiction book written by Ernest Hemingway about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting, published in 1932. The book provides a look at the history and the Spanish traditions of bullfighting. It al ...

'': “Quintana, the best aficionado and most loyal friend in Spain, and with a fine hotel with all the rooms full”.

Bibliography

* James A. Michener, ''Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections'', NY, Random House, 1968. * José María Iribarren, ''Hemingway y los Sanfermines'', Pamplona, Gómez, 1970. * M.C. Rintoul, ''Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction'', London, Routledge, 1993. * Miguel Izu, ''Hemingway en los sanfermines'', Pamplona, Ediciones Eunate, 2019. ''Hemingway in Pamplona'', translation by Martin Roberts, Amazon, 2021.

References

External links

Más sobre la habitación de Hemingway
(Spanish)
Historia del Club Taurino de Pamplona
(Spanish)
"La red 'Comète' en el País Vasco: la Frontera hacia la libertad en la Segunda Guerra Mundial", ''Revista internacional de los estudios vascos'' Vol. 56, nº 2, 2011
(Spanish)
Gran Enciclopedia Navarra
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintana, Juanito 1891 births 1974 deaths People from Pamplona Hoteliers