An archduke in Benidorm

On Tuesday 6 October we had Matías Pérez Such, president of the Frax Foundation, at our table. It was not planned. Matías was in Alicante for the National Police celebrations and came along to have lunch with us. It was a fellowship meeting, with no talk and no protocol. And it turned out to be one of those meetings you remember for exactly that reason.

The after-lunch conversation came early

Before we had even sat down, Matías began to talk. And what he told us had everyone listening.

He spoke about Otto von Habsburg, the last heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, and his long relationship with Benidorm. A relationship that began in the years when Pedro Zaragoza was mayor and was turning a fishing village into what we know today. The archduke came back many times, over decades. So many that, when he died in 2011, the Alicante press headlined his obituary «the archduke who placed Benidorm in Europe's orbit».

There are stories in this province that are not in any book and survive only because somebody tells them. This is one of them, and it deserves far more than an after-lunch conversation.

The Frax Foundation

Matías chairs the Frax Foundation, which from L'Albir, in l'Alfàs del Pi, has spent years bringing culture to the whole of the Marina Baixa. Exhibitions, lectures, music, cinema. Doors open to anyone who wants to walk in.

He gave us a preview of what is coming. On 22 October, a lecture by the journalist Máximo Sanz. And, in 2027, a new edition of the Jornadas de la Mar, which the foundation organises together with the Spanish Navy: seven lectures on the sea in all its dimensions, not only the military one, opened by an admiral. The dates are not set yet.

There have been three editions so far, and the titles say a good deal about their direction. The first, in 2024, «The Navy: eight centuries of service to Spain». The second, in 2025, «The Sea: a source of wealth and conflict». And this year's, «The Submarine Force: more than 100 years of service to Spain».

The club pennant

At the end of lunch, our president Andrea Corbalán presented Matías with the pennant of Rotary Club Alicante Lucentum Puerto. It is our way of saying, without saying it, that this house is open to him.

What we have in common

We said it when we introduced him. The Frax Foundation brings culture to anyone who wants to come closer, and we serve those who need it. Underneath both there is the same thing: a calling to serve. You could tell straight away.

Thank you for the afternoon, Matías. Come back whenever you like.