Don José Castro, founder of Grupo Castrosua and honorary president of the company, turns 89 this Thursday. Born in the village of O Penedo (five kilometers from O Carballiño) on July 16, 1926, he began tinkering with his father’s carpentry tools from a very young age.
That he was a ‘handyman’ became evident from a very young age. The rest of his qualities would be demonstrated in a career that has already spanned 65 years. Because as Juan Luis Castro, president of Grupo Castrosua, often says, referring to his father, ‘he’s still going strong today’.
In a recent interview, Don José stated that he could not have been motivated in the same way without the ‘unconditional support’ he always received from his wife and children. Our founder also assures that keeping the enthusiasm alive was key to driving the development of Grupo Castrosua over more than six decades. ‘I have always been very restless in spirit,’ he points out.
From a young age, he focused his activity on the bodywork sector. The work in which he excelled was the exterior finishing of wooden structures. For this reason, he was highly valued by panel beaters and was nicknamed Pepe “el Carrocero” (Pepe the Bodyworker).
Before fulfilling his military service obligations, he was requested by a company in Cea dedicated to the manufacture of furniture and coffins that wanted to enter the bodywork business. In 1947, at the age of 21, José Castro was assigned to do his military service in Zaragoza. He took advantage of this time to enroll in a local school of arts and crafts, where he had the opportunity to systematize the knowledge acquired at work.
The Beginning of Grupo Castrosua
In 1950, he married his girlfriend, Dña. Josefa Rodríguez, and established himself as a bodyworker first in O Carballiño and later in Vilagarcía de Arousa, in what can be considered the beginnings of Grupo Castrosua.
Throughout all this time, there were many difficulties along the way: fires, restructurings, crises. But D. José knew how to overcome each of them and consolidate a business group to which members of the third generation of the family have already joined.
Currently, he dedicates part of his time ‘to taking walks and reading,’ but admits to closely following ‘everything related to the world of bodywork and automotive.’
Although he spends time in the Canary Islands, he frequently visits Galicia. In fact, just this week he participated in the inauguration ceremony of the renovation and modernization works of our Carsa production plant. There, during the public speeches, he emotionally received the ovation and recognition of all those present.
And from here we want to wish him a Happy Birthday D. José!
