He studied law in Zaragoza, and secured through the promise of marriage with the ugly niece of the royal personal physician Berga a prestigious position in the ministry of law; upon acquiring the position, he backtracked on his promise of marriage, as a result of which he had to be cajoled into it by the King's prime minister, under the threat of being sent to the galleys.

In 1808, Calomarde followed the central junta of Aranjuez, the leader of which he had become, to Seville and Cádiz; however after the return of Ferdinand VII he was the first to acclaim the absolute monarch, for which he was named first administrator at the Secretaria general de Indias.

For eight years now the most important matters of the state passed through his hands, and the protection of the weak king secured him unfettered power, which he used to suppress freedom through the secret police, to retrain the Jesuits, restitute the monasteries and ruthlessly prosecute the Liberals.

When in September 1832, Ferdinand VII was struck by such a severe stroke of gout that he was presumed dead, Calomarde was the first to greet Carlos as king.

When the king recovered, Calomarde tried to persuade him to revoke his decrees and last will and testament, where the princess Isabel was named regent of the country, and to reinstate the Salic law.