Lauerano Falla Gutiérrez (1859-1929) was born in Hoz de Anero, Cantabria, Spain.  He had four siblings: Manuel (1865- ) who married Maria de los Angeles Alvarez Gonzalez, Juan ( - ) who married Teresa Casuso Agüero, Maria de la Concepcion ( - ) who married José Cervera Piñal and Maria Teresa ( - ).  In 1873, at the young age of fourteen he emigrated to Cuba and settled in Santa Isabel de Lajas in Las Villas Province where his uncle Laureano Gutierrez Diego had emigrated a few years earlier and was at the time a prosperous merchant.

He came to Cienfuegos, Cuba in 1873 to study with educators Luis Febles and Carlos Toledo.  His first job was in Santa Isabel de las Lajas to work as a clerk at the store of his uncle Laureano Gutierrez Diego. and after a few years opened his own store. On May 31, 1889 he married Cuban born Maria Dolores “Lola” Bonet Mora in Santa Isabel de Lajas.  Of this marriage there were seven children born, three daughters and four sons of which only four reached adulthood; Maria Teresa Falla Bonet (1898-1973) who married Agustin Batista Gonzalez de Mendoza (1899-1968) in 1926, Isabel Falla Bonet (1900-1977) who married Atty. David Suero Rodriguez, Maria Adelaida Falla Bonet (1892-1954) who married Viriato Gutierrez Valladón​ (1890-1974) and Eutimio Falla Bonet (1905-1965). In April 1935 a $300,000 ransom was paid for the release of Eutimio who was kidnapped for political reasons in Havana by members of an organization called Joven Cuba.  

The Cuban War of Independence interrupted the further development Laureano's already established and promising career and fortune, which development he would later resume.  After the war, he was involved in the sugar and coffee trade and the import of cattle.  In 1901 together with Nicolas Castaño Capetillo, Domingo Nazábal and Agustín Llorente he began his incursion in the sugar manufacturing industry.  During his lifetime he would own several sugar mills and at the time of his death in 1929, his estate was valued at some $35 million.  His heirs decided not to split the estate between them but work in building on what was already there under the Sucn. de Falla Gutiérrez name.  Over time, the Sucn. de Falla Gutiérrez made several acquisitions of additional sugar mills and owned the following sugar mills.

• Central Adelaida - Was built in 1916 on what used to be Hacienda Nauyú in Camagüey, was acquired on August 13, 1915 from the Knickerbocker Co. of New York by Falla Gutierrez and a group of Spanish investors that included Segundo Casteleiro Pedrera co-owner of Sucrs. de Casteleiro y Vizoso S. A. of which Falla Gutierrez was a stockholder.  In 1921 it was solely owned by Falla Gutierrez and was the largest of his sugar mills.  The company town, later a fulll  blown village, was and is still known as Falla.  While still in the Falla family, it was nationalized by the Fidel Castro regime in 1960.

• Central Patria - Was established by Lopez Mier and built between 1914-15 on what used to be the Santa Catalina plantation on lands ceded by Spanish immigrant  Manuel Mariño Carrejas.  It was acquired by Laureano Falla Gutiérrez in 1921 and operated under the name Compañía Azucarera Central Patria S. A. 

• Central Andreita - Was established in Cruces, Las Villas prior to 1861 by Lino Montalvo. Falla Gutiérrez acquired it in 1917 in partnership with A. Leblanc and Nicolás Castaño Capetillo and in 1924 Falla Guriérrez became the sole owner under the name Compañía Azucarera Central Andreíta S. A.

• Central Manuelita - Established in 1840 in Palmira, Las Villas by Spanish immigrants Antonio Jacinto Acea and Nicolás Jacinto Acea.  Between 1860 and 1905 was owned by Nicolás Acea and his wife Manuela Hernández de Rivera and their heirs.  Was acquired in 1905 by  the firm Falla & Monasterio.  Central San Lino and Central Lequeito were incorporated into Central Manuelita in 1922 and Central Dos Hermanos incorporated in 1929.

• Central Santísima Trinidad - Was his first sugar mill established by Falla in 1879, its last milling season was 1918.

• ​Central Violeta - Was established in Las Villas and relocated after the 1917 grinding season to Morón when it was owned by Tirso Mesa, Miguel Arango and Orestes Ferrara.  Its first grinding season in Morón was 1919 and in 1920 was acquired by Cuba Cane Corp. subsidiary Eastern Sugar Corp. for $3,000,000.  As a result of Cuba Cane Corp. bankruptcy, in 1932 Central Violeta's administration was handled by E. G. Miller.  On October 27, 1936 the sugar mill would be acquired at auction by Central Violeta Sugar Co. S. A. for $3,000,000.  In January 1958 the Sucn. de Falla Gutierrez became sole owner in Centeral Violeta which at one point in time had a distillery and an airport.

• Central Punta Alegre​ - acquired on May 31, 1951 for $5,000,000± when the Sucn. de Falla-Gutiérrez acquired Compañia Azucarera Punta Alegre S. A. which owned the sugar mill and certain assets of the Punta Alegre Industrial Corp. of NY, the subsidiary that ran the mill.  The Sucn. de Falla Gutiérrez operated the sugar mill under it under the  name Compañía Azucarera Buenavista S. A. presided by Alejandro Suero Falla the son of Isabel Falla Bonet.  The Sucn. de Falla Gutiérrez operated Central Punta Alegre until it was nationalized by the Fidel Castro regime in July 1960. ​

• San German - Acquired in 1947 from the Punta Alegre Sugar Co.

• Central Velasco - Acquired in 1947 from the Cia. Azucarera Atlantica del Golfo.

• Central Cieneguita - Established by Spanish immigrant Francisco de Sola Nanclares in the Cienfuegos area. In 1910 it was acquired by Falla Gutierrez as a result of a foreclosure action against the heirs of Sola Nanclares. Its last milling was in 1928 when it was absorbed by Central Constancia.

In addition to his sugar holdings, Laureano Falla Guriérrez was involved in the direction and/or was majority stockholder of several enterprises in diverse industries, among them: Cia. Cubana de Electricidad (Power), Empresa de Ectricidad de Lajas, Rodas (Power), Cia de Fibras y Jarcias de Cárdenas (Rigging), Cia. Papelera Nacional de Marianao (Paper), Cia. de Seguros Union Agricola Industrial (Insurance), Cia. Cubana de Pesca (Fishing) and Refineria de Petroleo de Luyanó (Petroleum/Oil).

In 1959, at the time of the Cuban Revolution, Sucn. de Falla Gutiérrez was the second most important sugar group in Cuba in terms of capital with between $65 million and $75 million and third in terms of production.   In addition to their Cuban assets, it has been widely reported that anticipating the political issues that resulted in the Cuban Revolution and rise of the Fidel Castro regime, the Falla family made foreign investments of some $40 million.   This foresight allowed the family members that left Cuba to start a new life with relative comfort. Ricardo Cervera Falla