The enigma of the Manacor descendants of Josep Picó, 150 years later...

ManacorJosep Picó Matos was born on Carrer d'en Bosch on June 23, 1874, at a time when growing up in Manacor meant suffering economically and socially. From a Xueta family, he was the grandson of the also Manacorí Josep Picó Pomar Pabordo and Escolàstica Pomar, a native of Santa Maria. Baptized in the old church of dels Dolors, his name is not found in the civil registry.

His father, Rafel (1833), had emigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-19th century with a business spirit and a desire to return to the island with a mattress of money. There, in Coamo, he met his mother, Rafaela Matos Tudela, who was only 21 years old when she married on December 13, 1868, 19 years younger than her husband. Together they returned to Manacor after having had a shop in Coamo, where the city museum is now.

Manacor Register

Picó Matos and his parents, however, will not last long in Mallorca before returning to the Americas, and in the 90s of the 19th century, it is recorded that they are again on the Puerto Rican island. It is documented that our man was a journalist and a grocer. It is also known that he wanted to retain his Spanish nationality, despite the change of sovereignty after the independence of Puerto Rico in 1898.

A key event to be able to return to our days and tell a story of reunions. Here, with the so-called "Law of Grandsons" (the procedure that Spain opened at the beginning of 2023 so that all those third-generation relatives of emigrants could claim nationality), genealogist and professional researcher Tomeu Caimari received a commission and a wish.

José Benjamín Vélez wanted to intervene so that his mother, Carmen Vélez Picó, could investigate the history of her grandfather from Manacor, born in Carrer d'en Bosch, and who he knew had remarried for a second time to have Irma Rafaela Picó (1926-2014), his mother.

José Picó Pomar, older brother of Picó

"Finding the godfather Picó Matos already took a bit of work, or rather being able to prove with papers that he was from Manacor". And it is that, as we said, although a baptism record exists in the town's main church, "it was not registered in the civil registry, which makes it longer for the purposes of requesting a possible nationality for descendants, because what is officially called the 'negative' must be requested".

Surprise

Now, the family wants to take advantage of a visit to Mallorca from November 11 to 15 of this 2026 to surprise their mother, who will turn 80, and organize a visit to Manacor to see the street where the family lived and, if possible, meet any living descendants of the Picó family who may remain.

"It will be complicated to know the exact number of the house where her grandfather was born, because the numbering changes over time and because the dwelling may have been demolished and replaced by a new one," explains Tomeu Caimari, who continues to work hard to try to locate any Manacor relatives who may remain for Carmen.

Picó Pomar house-shop in Coamo, current museum

If we go back, we know that Josep Picó Matos' father, Rafel, had already left for Puerto Rico, where he reunited with three brothers: Josep (Manacor, 1820), Francesc (Manacor, 1828), and Cristòfol (Manacor, 1848) in the mid-19th century, "which means we have to rule them out when looking for current descendants from Manacor," adds Caimari, whose main objective is to find them among those who stayed: Pere Joan (1825), Gaspar (1838), and Andreu (1842).

"We know that those who emigrated founded the company Hermanos Pomar, dissolved in 1879 following Francesc's death." In fact, it seems that the younger brothers, Rafel and Cristòfol, returned to Mallorca and dedicated themselves to trade with France." "Now that I'm doing the tree, I know there are three brothers who got married in Manacor; therefore, if there's any offspring left, it must be by pulling this thread. If not, we'd have to go to cousins, for example."