Álava y Esquivel, Miguel Ricardo de  ( born 1771 , Vitoria, Spain—died 1843 , Barèges, Fr. France )  soldier in the Napoleonic Wars and statesman. Álava was an aide-de-camp to the Duke duke of Wellington and the Spanish commissary at the duke’s headquarters during the Peninsular War. On the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain, he lost favour because of his liberal ideas but was appointed ambassador to The the Netherlands (1815–22). He was president of the Spanish Cortes (parliament) in 1822–23 and later served as ambassador to Great Britain and France.