Pedro J. de Galíndez Vallejo, popularly known as 'Peru Galíndez', was born in Portugalete in 1891, into a noble and illustrious family. Her mother was the benefactor Doña María Vallejo y Arana, an outstanding lady who was famous for her charitable works, whom the council of the noble town of Portugalete honored by giving her the name of one of her streets. While his father, Pedro Galíndez, was one of the founders of the Real Sporting Club.

The building in which 'Peru' was born is remarkable, the palace called 'Saltillo', where his mother lived all her life. The name 'Saltillo' that people gave (and still gives) to this building is due to a small fence that separated it from the old Peñota beach, and that the neighbors 'jumped' to get closer to it.

His love of water sports was inherited from his father, and he would maintain it all his life, becoming a great yachtsman, as such he participated in the Antwerp Olympics in 1928, manning a 6-meter sloop called 'Fruits', owned by of the Royal Sporting Club. The name 'Fruits' was the nickname by which another of the founders of this yacht club, Eduardo Ubao, was known. From a very young age, Peru Galíndez, like his father, belonged to this Club, being one of its most outstanding sailors. With another boat, 'La Fromista', he also won several regattas.

Shortly thereafter he became president of the Real Sporting Club, and for many years was a member of the Sailing Federation (formerly called Nautical Clubs). He was also a member of the international federation I.Y.R.U. (International Yacht Racing Union), for which he frequently traveled to London in order to attend all their meetings.

The contribution that Peru Galíndez made to the world of regattas was invaluable. In 1934, on one of his trips to England, together with his wife Mercedes, they learned of the existence of an Englishman who lived in a boat placed in the middle of the fields, in the style of the character 'Chanquete' from the popular television series. This Englishman was Mr D. Lawrie, who two years earlier had acquired this sailboat from the shipyard of G. Vries Lentch, and had taken it to his country, without even waiting for it to be finished. Galíndez bought it from him and sent it to the English shipyard 'Campers & Nicholson' for finishing.

He later brought it to Bilbao, and baptized it "Saltillo", in memory of the palace where he was born.

Professionally, Peru Galíndez studied law and acquired great prestige in the business world and in Basque banking. He participated in the foundation of the Banco Comercial Agrícola, and in the Banco de Vizcaya he came to occupy the position of vice-president. He was also president of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce. Among other important positions Peru Galindez was mayor of Portugalete. On the other hand, he was also president of the Bilbao Juvenile Court and a member of the Superior Council for the Protection of Minors. In 1950 he donated the 'Saltillo' palace to the 'Casa del Salvador' patronage in Amurrio, so that it would serve as a sheltered home for the boys who, upon leaving the Amurrio reformatory, found themselves without any other home to welcome them.

In 1968, he made another honorable gesture as a benefactor by donating the sailboat 'Saltillo' to the then Portugalete Higher School of Nautical Sciences, today the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao integrated into the University of the Basque Country/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, with the aim that it be used to teach navigation practices to its students.

Cared for by the Servas de María, of whom he was his main benefactor, Peru Galíndez died three years later.