Ramon was born to Alejandro de la Sota, hailing from
Portugalete, and Alejandra de Llano, born in
Castro Urdiales. He lived in his family's house at
Muskiz for twenty years until he moved
to Bilbao in 1868 ahead of the
Second Carlist War, where he took up studies in the
Instituto Vizcaino. He completed a law degree in the
Central University of Madrid. On his comeback to Bilbao, he engaged in his professional activity. He took the reins of
the pro-fueros Sociedad Euskalerria, often referred to as the
euskalerriacos, and integrated it into the
Basque Nationalist Party, a move that pushed the party towards more pragmatic political positions from 1898 to 1902. Thriving on the heat of
Bilbao's industrial development during the first decades of the 20th century, his
shipbuilding and mining businesses earned him one of the largest fortunes in
the Basque Country and Spain altogether. Ramon de la Sota married Catalina de Aburto, daughter of a prominent trader in Bilbao. == See also ==