Spain: Big on His Own

In his quick rise to riches, Spain's Eduardo Barreiros Rodriguez, 44, could never be accused of taking the easy way. A poor and nearly illiterate boy, Barreiros fought in the Civil War as a gunner for the Franco forces. He later lost four fingers in factory accidents. As a struggling contractor and later an engine builder, he neither sought nor received help from any of Spain's snobbish financial combines. He was a loner, a hard worker and an audacious plunger. Now he is Spain's biggest private businessman, heading a $200 million industrial...