This chapter analyses the evolution of the steel industry in Málaga through the business legacy of the Heredia family, one of the most influential families in the nineteenth-century Andalusian capitalism. It studies how Manuel Agustín Heredia founded one of the first major Spanish steel industries, taking advantage of local resources, international trade networks, and the momentum of economic protectionism. Over three generations, the Heredia family consolidated a business complex that encompassed mining, metallurgy, transport, and finance. The chapter examines both the initial boom of this industrial initiative and the internal and external factors that led to its decline, such as competition from the north, lack of modernisation, and changes in economic policies. Through this case, it illustrates the role of family elites in Spanish industrialisation and the fragility of their long-term projects.