A close friend of Ramón Serrano Suñer, his tireless work as a propagandist, as well as his short stature and swarthy appearance, earned him the early nickname of the "Spanish Joseph Goebbels".

[5] He was also damaged by the fact that he had been active in support of Nazi Germany as other pro-Nazis such as Sancho Dávila y Fernández de Celis and Pedro Gamero del Castillo were dismissed at the same time.

[7] In 1955 the disillusioned Ridruejo set up a semi-clandestine club bringing together 'authentic' Falangists with communists, socialists and democrats (such as Enrique Múgica, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, Ramón Tamames, José María Ruiz Gallardón, and others) in a loose alliance united only by opposition to Francoist Spain.

[8] By this point he had become involved with the Partido Social de Acción Democrática, an illegal opposition group that supported democratisation and a liberal cultural outlook, as well as left-wing economic ideas.

Ridruejo was a devotee of classical Spanish literature, as well as Dante and Plutarch and he produced poetry in a number of forms, ranging from Garcilaso de la Vega-styled sonnets to blank verse.