José Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo, 18th Duke of Medina Sidonia

Don José Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo y Silva, 18th Duke of Medina Sidonia, 14th Marquis of Villafranca del Bierzo, 14th Marquis of los Vélez, 12th Duke of Fernandina, 13th Marquis of Molina and 22nd Count of Niebla, Grandee of Spain, Knight of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla and of the Order of Alcántara (Madrid, Spain; 14 August 1826 - 15 February 1900) was a Spanish and politician who served as Superior Chief of the Palace from 1885 until his death.

The Duke was the elder son of Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Marquis of Villafranca and María del Pilar Joaquina de Silva, fifth daughter of José Gabriel de Silva, 12th Marquis of Santa Cruz and Joaquina Téllez-Girón y Pimentel, daughter of Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna and María Josefa Pimentel, 14th Countess Duchess of Benavente. He was educated at the Theresian Military Academy, in Austro-Hungary, where his father was exiled for being a carlist sympathiser.

In 1847, Queen Isabella II lifted the seizure of the properties of the Medina Sidonias in Spain, and the family was able to return. The young Pepe, by then Marquis of los Vélez, started his political career, taking a seat in 1852 at the Parliament of the Two Sicilies, as Prince of Paternò. He succeeded in the dukedom in 1862, and following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1874, became senator in his own right in 1875 and for the province of Cádiz in 1876.

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