His grandfather was a subscriber of the Carlist daily El Siglo Futuro in the 1870s[29] and in the 1880s, when the newspaper followed the breakaway Integrist path; also his father engaged in politically loaded public disputes.

[36] 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”.

The mainstream Carlists usually refrained from fielding counter-candidates, though at times other parties presented their contenders; twice (in 1918 and 1920) Senante was declared triumphant having faced no competition and elected according to the notorious Article 29.

[54] As representative of Integrism Senante was perhaps the most Right-wing, reactionary and anti-democratic deputy of the entire Cortes; even other ultraconservative MPs, the mainstream Carlists, were to a small extent prepared to demonstrate some flexibility.

He sided with the hierarchy both in case of nationwide disasters like Semana Trágica, the event he interpreted mostly in religious terms,[55] and minor though publicity-gaining controversies, like a dispute over possible sale abroad of an antique Zamora pyxis, possessed by the Church.

[62] Though he represented a competitive Integrist current of Traditionalism, in the early 1920s Senante worked to secure financial status of the Carlist prince Alfonso Carlos, who struggled against the Republican Austrian property regulations.

The daily, set up in 1875 by Candidó Nocedal, remained a second-rate newspaper in terms of circulation and impact on the Spanish national market, but for ultraconservative politics it emerged as an iconic voice and a point of reference.

Though under Senante the paper underwent modernization with the introduction of graphics and expansion into economic, culture and sport sections, over time – especially in the 1920s and later – the circulation distance between El Siglo Futuro and leading national newspapers broadened into an abyss.

[66] In terms of ideological outlook Senante followed the Nocedals closely; El Siglo Futuro remained an ultraconservative, vehemently anti-liberal and then anti-democratic vehicle of pursuing traditional values centered on the Catholic faith.

In terms of party politics the paper remained the tribune of Integrism and was perhaps its most visible emanation in the Spanish public realm;[67] even following amalgamation within Carlism in the early 1930s El Siglo Futuro cherished its Integrist identity.

In terms of its style and language El Siglo Futuro was a fairly typical Spanish party paper, excelling in bombastic, hyperbolic, inflammatory, intransigent, sectarian phraseology.

In 1926, prior to the plebiscite intended as endorsement of a future national assembly, El Siglo Futuro declared itself supportive of Primo de Rivera but firmly voiced against Unión Patriótica and its program, calling its readers to abstain from voting.

[75] Senante opposed new Christian-democratic format of mobilization already in the previous decade, first confronting Luis Coloma[76] but later targeting Grupo de la Democracia Cristiana and Maximiliano Arboleya.

[77] Senante, who viewed social conflict as part of the religious question, despised democratic platform of policy making, its malmenorismo and accidentalism;[78] in return, Arboleya dubbed Integrism “a Catholic freemasonry”.

[86] During the liberalization produced by Dictablanda, the Spanish Integrism re-emerged as a new political party, Comunión Tradicionalista-Integrista; Senante became deputy head of the entire organization[87] and signed a joint monarchist manifesto of 1930, published to defend Religion, Fatherland and Monarchy against the looming Republican threat.

By the end of 1931 he clashed with the papal nuncio Tedeschini, accusing him of inaction and conspiring to get the envoy recalled to Vatican;[93] the events forged an even closer friendship between Senante and Segura.

[96] Since late 1920 Senante and the Integrists approached the Jaimistas, and already in the spring of 1931 he publicly spoke in favor or a reunification;[97] later that year he joined a group of mainstream Carlists representing Don Jaime in dynastical negotiations with the deposed Alfonso XIII.

[110] In 1934 Senante successfully launched the candidature of ex-fellow Integrist Manuel Fal Conde as a party leader;[111] despite the age difference the two developed lasting cordial relationship.

[116] He avoided almost certain incarceration[117] by seeking refuge in a foreign diplomatic mission[118] and eventually made it to the Nationalist zone in the summer of 1937, installing himself first at the Olazábals’ estate in San Sebastián,[119] later in 1938 moving to Vitoria.

[120] When trapped in the Republican zone Senante was unable to participate in internal Carlist disputes related to amalgamation into FET, but afterwards, when nominated member of Junta Nacional Carlista de Guerra, he adopted a hostile stand.

[124] In 1942 he refused advances of the Juanistas and preferred to enter Junta Auxiliar,[125] a body loyal to the Carlist regent-claimant Don Javier; the same year he signed a statement condemning the regime described as “intruso y usurpador”.

[128] Early 1944 he spoke against the pro-Axis leaning of the Spanish foreign policy[129] and later that year, during a clandestine 1944 monarchist meeting in Seville, he voted in favor of an attempt to overthrow Franco.

[133] Member of a number of religious associations,[134] Senante was also lawyer of the Roman Rota,[135] though his personal relations with Vatican suffered due to mutual antagonism with cardinal Tedeschini.