In 1932, while the international Mallorquin financier Joan March Ordines was imprisoned in the capital of Spain, his trusted staff burned all the books and papers belonging to the seventh richest man in the world, in order that the Republicans would not find any evidence to condemn him.
Inexplicably, 10 books of accounting of the March Brothers family company, (formed by the grandfather, father and uncle of Joan March), for the period 1895 to 1905 were not burned. In September 2001, about a hundred years later, they were discovered by Miquel Monjo, great-grandson of the sister of the financier.
The books, kept in a box in the house where Joan March lived from 1905 to 1916, in Santa Margalida (on the island of Mallorca), were perfectly preserved and many were written by Joan March himself.
The news of this discovery has caused a great interest in Mallorca, since the documents show for the first time in history, details of bribes paid to the State Security Forces in order to allow tobacco smuggling to take place.
Historians who have seen them agree that they necessitate a review of the history of one of the most controversial and influential characters of the 20th Century.