He is best known for his instrumental role in anti-Republican conspiracy of early 1936 in Navarre, when as the local requeté commander he co-engineered swift takeover of the region and contributed to rebel advances in Gipuzkoa and Aragón.

Its first descendant known by name, a Miguel de Utrilla, in the late 16th century took residence in Alcalá la Real, a town built around an ancient fortress in what would become a province of Jaén, in Eastern Andalusia.

The same year he took part in the battle of Tauima; while commander of the unit was hit, Utrilla personally led the charge against enemy lines, which earned him notice in the newspapers.

[39] At the time he formed part of an informal group of officers known as Grupo de Larache; the camaraderie included later known personalities like Enrique Varela and Manuel Goded.

[40] In September 1923 the coup of Primo de Rivera terminated the period of liberal democracy in Spain; the dictator intended to replace the perceived rotten and corrupted system with a new, efficient regime.

Part of the plan was to dispatch military inspectors (delegados gubernativos) to reform local government and instill patriotism in the population;[41] they were expected to root out the patronage networks of caciques and catalyze the emergence of new, prototypical Spanish citizen through cultural and propagandistic means.

[55] As africanistas were considered the most reactionary segment of the army Azaña sided with the junteros; strict seniority was restored and all merit promotions were retracted, subject to review.

For Utrilla it boiled down to annulment of his promotion to teniente coronel; he was downgraded to comandante,[56] though this retraction was paired with reception of Cruz de Merito Militar, second class.

[73] Following victory of Popular Front Utrilla put his requeté in state of alarm, apparently anticipating a revolutionary turmoil; it took orders from Carlist high command to lift it.

Initially Utrilla was not identified as involved, but during a June raid of jefe de seguridad Mallol he was briefly detained on suspicion of illegal possession of arms.

[77] As no proof has been found Utrilla was released, but since then he went into hiding when in regional conspiracy command; he is credited for future efficiency of the rebels in Navarre,[78] though he procured weapons also for the Catalan branch.

Utrilla stayed on good terms with both groups;[81] some authors portray him as a person who – apart from enjoying genuine charisma and confidence among the volunteers – demonstrated also some mediation skills.

[83] As a senior career officer he served also as a Traditionalist link to head of military conspiracy, general Mola, and met him on July 14 to discuss the Carlist terms of access.

He was busy mostly organizing the avalanche of volunteers, forming units, nominating commanders, deploying troops in specific directions[86] and raising morale by delivering public addresses.

[95] In early September he was back in combat since the Moroccan times of 1925; on approaches to Irún he commanded a heterogeneous unit which consisted of requetés, Falangists and soldiers, 6 companies in total.

[96] In mid-September he advocated shuttling some troops from Gipuzkoa to Aragón;[97] following the seizure of San Sebastián, in mid-month he indeed led some of the requeté sub-units transferred East.

In March 1937 he was listed in the official order of the Nationalist high command, already in the regular army service; as comandante retirado he was assigned to head Cuadro Eventual of the 6.

[101] A contemporary historian speculates that Utrilla served in Jefatura de Milicias, the section of Nationalist general staff entrusted with organization of militia units, formally incorporated into the army but allowed a grade of autonomy.

In the Francoist era Utrilla's military career consisted of spells at administrative positions, in command of large units and in the judiciary; hardly anyone of these lasted longer than 2 years.

[107] Following less than 2 year at this position, his regular garrison service was terminated and Utrilla obtained the first quasi-political nomination; in May 1941 he became the military governor of the Mallorca province.

In April 1945 Utrilla resumed service as Gobernador Militar in the province of La Coruña,[112] but the following year he was posted to command 42. division, also at unclear location.

In September 1959, having reached the upper limit of regular military retirement age, Utrilla left active service and as teniente general was released to reserve.

During his assignment in Alcalá he found the time to attend the 1941 Holy Week festivities in Granada; they were highly saturated with the Traditionalist flavor, as detachments of requeté ex-combatants with flying standards paraded along the streets.

The local Falange commander complained later the event turned into “una verdadera manifestación política” and that Utrilla, present at the honorary tribune, did not intervene and remained motionless during the “¡Vivan los leones del Requeté!” cries.

[125] In 1943 he was present at the Montserrat Aplec along party leaders like Fal, Zamanillo and Sivatte;[126] in 1945 during a local event in Zaragoza he received honors from and greeted the marching requeté detachment; the day produced later a melee between the Carlists and the Falangists.

He remained on correct terms with the regent-claimant, who in private correspondence lectured Utrilla on trappings of the Francoist “parodia del Monarquía” and warned him not to engage in the regime politically.

[131] When in the mid-1950s the Sivattistas left the Javierista Carlism and created a breakaway group known as RENACE, Utrilla was considered a member of its “núcleo privado”,[132] though he refrained from public statements.

One day prior to such a rally in 1959 he was courted by Capitán General de Barcelona, Pablo Martín Alonso, who offered him managerial position at a state-controlled metalworking and manufacturing company ENSIDESA, with a hefty salary package of 75,000 ptas a month included; in return Utrilla was supposed to refrain from quasi-political activity.