Manuel Senante Martínez (1873–1959) was a Spanish Traditionalist politician and publisher, until 1931 adhering to the Integrist current and afterwards active in the Carlist ranks. He is known mostly as the longtime editor-in-chief of the Madrid daily El Siglo Futuro (1907–1936). During 8 consecutive terms he served as the Integrist deputy to the Cortes (1907–1923).
Family and youth
Manuel was born to a distinguished Alicantine family. His paternal grandfather, Manuel Senante Sala, was professor of Retórica y Poética at Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza of Alicante and its longtime director (1854–1889).María Dolores Mollá Soler, Instituto de Educación Secundaria Jorge Juan, [in:] Canelore. Revista del Instituto alicantino de cultura “Juan Gil-Albert”, 55 (2009), p. 239 His father, Emilio Senante Llaudes (died 1916),Diario de Alicante 02.12.16, available here was in 1881–1909 teaching geography and history at the very same institute,Rafael Valls Montés, Historiografía escolar española: siglos XIX-XXI, Madrid 2012, , p. 86. Contemporary sources claim that he was nominated professor auxiliar there in 1877, see El magisterio español, 25.06.77, available here in 1891–1904 also serving as its director.Mollá Soler 2009, pp. 240–241 In 1907 he assumed directorship of the local Escuela Normal de Maestros.Faustino Larrosa Martínez, Leonor Maldonado Izquierdo, Las escuelas normales de Alicante: conservadurismo y renovación entre 1844 y 1931, Alicante 2012, , pp. 101–102 Senante Llaudes wrote a number of textbooks in history, fairly popular in secondary education across Levante.Valls Montés 2012, pp. 113 Apart from his educative posts, he was also active as a lawyer,in contemporary press he is referred to as “jurisconsulto”, El Siglo Futuro 04.12.16, available here periodistaJoaquín Santo Matas, Treint Alicantinos al servicio de la humanidad, Alicante 2009, p. 151 and local politician.the term “politico” refers probably to his service in ayuntamiento, see El Siglo Futuro 04.12.16 His brother Francisco Senante Llaudes was a locally recognized composer and maestro.Ernest Llorens, Euterpe, manzana de discordia (II). Crònica del polèmic certamen d’Alacant de l’any 1889, [in:] Música i poble 172 (2013), pp. 41-42
At unspecified time Senante Llaudes married a girl from Alicante, María Teresa Martínez Torrejón (died 1885).El Nuevo Alicantino 25.07.97, available here Her brother Antonio Martínez Torrejón would later become a locally known personality, deputy-mayor, poet and publisher, director of the local daily El eco de la provincia.see e.g. El eco de la provincia 19.08.83, available here The couple had at least 3 children, Manuel born as the oldest one. His younger brother José died in infancy;El eco de la provincia 07.08.81, available here another one, Joaquin, perished at 16 years of age.El Nuevo Alicantino 25.07.97, available here
The young Manuel was brought up in a fervently Catholic ambience;El Siglo Futuro 04.12.16 in the 1890s he studied law in Barcelona and Madrid.Idoia Estornés Zubizarreta, Manuel Senante Martínez entry at Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here, Manuel Senante Martínez entry. [in:] Javier Paniagua, José A. Piqueras (eds.), Diccionario biográfico de políticos valencianos: 1810–2006, Valencia 2008, , p. 521 By the turn of the century, he returned to Alicante, launching his own career as a lawyer in 1897.Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 Representing his clients in cases ranging from private to commercial law,in 1914-5 he represented a party in commercial but culturally sensitive case of salterns located at the salt marshes of Elx, near terms of Sant Tomás, Carles Martín Cantareno, Ecologia i cultura: el matollar de sosa del terme Sant Tomás, un hábitat prioritari europeu vinculat al Patrimoni de la Humanitat de la Festa d’Elx, [in:] La Rella 25 (2012), pp. 97 he gradually grew to prominence and got engaged in politically sensitive cases, like a dispute over a forcibly closed local parish cemetery, speaking for the Alicantine San Nicolás community before the Supreme Court;Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 in 1903 he was already one of the Alicante municipal judges.“¿Quién es D. Manuel Senante? Un joven abogado alicantino, integrista ayer, autor, según se dijo, del manifesto tan íntegramenta católico que la Liga publicó al venir al mundo, y que sancionando una vez más que una cosa es predicar y otra dar trigo, solicitó y obtuvo a los pocos días del partido liberal conservador el ser nombrado juez municipal de Alicante”, La Comarca 22.6.03, available here Manuel Senante married Josefa Esplá Rizo (1870–1957), daughter of the Alicantine merchant marine captain and also a local Alicantine municipal counselor.for an interesting piece on Anselmo Juan Esplá Rodes (1834–1918) see here The couple had 6 daughters (3 of them became nuns)ABC 26.06.59, available here and a son, Manuel Senante Esplá, also a Carlist activist. A lawyer, in the 1930s he defended in court individuals charged with engagement in Sanjurjada.Carlos Lesmes Serrano et al., Los procesos célebres seguidos ante el Tribunal Supremo en sus doscientos años de historia (siglo XX), Madrid 2014, , p. 194 He followed in the footsteps of his father and entered the publishing business, serving as member of the board of El Siglo Futuro in the 1930s;Eduardo González Calleja, La prensa carlista y falangista durante la Segunda República y la Guerra Civil (1931–1937), [in:] El Argonauta Espanol 9 (2012), available here, also ABC 26.06.59 during early Francoism he served as municipal judge in Madrid.El Progreso 26.04.39, available here Senante's daughter Immaculada married Francisco Urries, catedrático of philosophy in Madrid.Raúl Angulo Díaz, La historia de la cátedra de Estética en la universidad española, Oviedo 2016, , p. 299 The family initially lived at the estate of Santa Rosa in San Juan, now a bedroom suburb of Alicante;Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 in the early 20th century it moved permanently to Madrid.Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521
Early career
Senante inherited ultraconservative political outlook from his ancestors. His grandfather was a subscriber of the Carlist daily El Siglo Futuro in the 1870sEl Siglo Futuro 02.01.77, available here and in the 1880s, when the newspaper followed the breakaway Integrist path; also his father engaged in politically loaded public disputes.Larrosa, Maldonado 2012, p. 102 Having completed academic period and driven principally by his profound religiosity, back in his home city Manuel threw himself into Alicantine public activities.Traditionalism was quite strong in the province of Alicante; no data is available for the Integrist branch; in terms of mainstream Jaimismo, the province was 7th in Spain; with 103 juntas it was ahead of Gipuzkoa, Castellón and Lerida, not very far behind Navarre, see Francisco Javier Caspistegui, Historia por descubrir. Materiales para estudio del carlismo, Estella 2012, , pp. 32-33 He associated with the Conservative Party in 1897Estornés Zubizarreta, Manuel Senante Martínez and commenced his long editorial career first by contributing and later by running a local party Andalusian daily, La Monarquía (1899–1900).Estornés Zubizarreta, Manuel Senante Martínez, Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 He became active in numerous local Catholic initiatives, e.g. hosting Junta Organizadora for erection of the Century Cross in Alicante in 1901.blown up in 1934 and reconstructed later, see here Senante started to contribute to El Siglo Futuro himself in 1901, initially with short informative pieces.El Siglo Futuro 02.04.01, available here Already in 1902 he was hailed as “elocuentísimo abogado” and “uno de los católicos más firmes y decididos”.El Siglo Futuro 26.06.02, available here
In the early 20th century Senante dissociated himself from the conservatives and approached Partido Católico Nacional, the Integrist political party; in 1903 he was already reported by the press as “joven abogado alicantino, integrista ayer”.”Quién es D. Manuel Senante? Un joven abogado alicantino, integrista ayer, autor, según se dijo, del manifesto tan íntegramente católico que la Liga publicó al veniral mundo, y que sancionando una vez más que una cosa es predicar y otra dar trigo, solicito y obtuvo a los pocos dias del partido liberal conservador”, La Comarca 22.06.03, available here The same year he tried his luck in elections to the Cortes, especially that according to some sources he was already one of the most influential personalities of the Right in the province.Victoria Moreno 1984, p. 170 lists Senante along Aparisi, Mella and de Maeztu He stood as a candidate of Liga Católica, a newly formed electoral platform promoted by the Church in Spain.for discussion of different phased of the strategy see Rosa Ana Gutiérrez Lloret, ¡A las urnas, en defensa de la fe! La movilización política católica en la España de comienzos del siglo XX, [in:] Pasado y Memoria 7 (2008), pp. 245–248 He fielded his candidature in the south-Levantine city of Orihuela,Estornés Zubizarreta, Manuel Senante Martínez, see also El Siglo Futuro 18.07.08, available here but was defeated by the famous liberal politician, Francisco Ballesteros.Senante maintained good relations with the Orihuela Jaimistas also later on, himself and de Mella visiting the city in 1911, Victoria Moreno 1984, p. 163
No source consulted mentions Senante as running in the 1905 elections.compare e.g. El Siglo Futuro 21.09.05, available here; Senante's name is mentioned only as he congratulated the party leader Ramón Nocedal on his triumph in Pamplona, see La Voz del Alicante 11.09.06, available here He engaged in setting up La Voz de Alicante, the daily which first appeared in 1904some claim it was in 1905, see Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 and which he managed as a director.El Siglo Futuro 27.02.06, available here; digital archive of the daily is available here The newspaper was formatted as a broad Catholic tribune, though its Integrist sympathies were evident.compare La Voz de Alicante 02.04.07, available here Senante was also active in local party structures; his formal position remains unclear, but in 1906 he was already representing the provincial Integrist junta.with Emilio Pascual y Canto, see El Siglo Futuro 12.02.06, available here Apart from pure politics he joined a new initiative, Acción Católica, later presiding over Círculo Obrero of this organization.Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 Displaying some penchant for social issues Senante became member of Instituto de Reformas Sociales,Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 promoted also by the conservative groupings into Instituto Nacional de Previsión;Paniagua, Piqueras 2008, p. 521 within this structure he entered Consejo de Patronato and represented it within employers’ associations.María Gloria Redondo Rincón, El seguro obligatorio de enfermedad en España: responsables técnicos y políticos de su implantación durante el franquismo, [PhD Complutense Departamento de Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica], Madrid 2013, p. 145; see also Luis Sánchez Agesta, Orígenes de la política social en la España de la Restauración, [in:] Revista de derecho político 8 (1981), p. 14
Deputy