Little is known about his childhood, except that he was very early orphaned by both parents; since his older brother died in infancy,[18] he inherited all aristocratic titles and the family fortune at the age of 10.

[20] The family left Spain following declaration of the Republic and returned in 1876;[21] Manuel enrolled in law at Universidad de Barcelona and graduated at unspecified time in the late 1870s.

[34] In 1881 his position changed from prestigious participant to one of the organizers, as he emerged as treasurer of Junta Organizativa de Barcelona of the next pilgrimage, planned for 1882[35] and finally called off due to political reasons.

Hitherto pilgrimage activities seemed to format him as an Integrist supporter, especially that he kept addressing Nocedal[48] and Sardá[49] with venerating letters and in 1886 the press reported him as one of "jefes del integrismo catalan".

[51] Though in early 1888 the Nocedalista daily El Siglo Futuro publicized Llanza's solidarity with Nocedal,[52] in the moment of choice he decided to stand by the claimant; in 1889 the same newspaper already ridiculed the duke.

[60] As Junta Central turned into a body coordinating the first Carlist electoral campaign of the Restoration Solferino became one of key so-called aperturistas; together with Cerralbo he pursued the path of acknowledging the system by at least partially adhering to its political rules.

[63] Though in Huesca he clearly lost,[64] the Vich result remained heavily contested;[65] the voting took place in February 1891, but he was finally declared victorious in the summer of 1892, just a month before the Cortes was dissolved.

[69] Though the Catalan Carlist leader was Luis de Llauder y Dalmases, Solferino was gradually emerging as one of key regional jefes,[70] presiding over some party meetings as early as in 1896.

[72] A close collaborator of Llauder, both worked together developing regional Traditionalist media, especially a daily Correo Catalan and a weekly La Hormiga de Oro.

[78] Though scholars do not list him among those involved[79] and at the time of the disturbances he was together with other Carlist leaders in Paris,[80] contemporary press noted that Badalona raid originated from Torre Baró estate of his brother-in-law Sivatte.

[86] Declaring utter loyalty to the new national leader Matías Barrio,[87] Llanza remained on very good terms with the deposed one, de Cerralbo;[88] by some he was associated with intrigues aiming at enforcing abdication of the claimant in favor of his son, don Jaime.

[92] At this post he threw himself into re-organizing local press activities: in 1903 he co-founded and presided over publishing house Fomento de la Prensa Tradicionalista;[93] he re-launched Correo Catalan[94] and enforced personal changes in its managing and editorial structures.

[97] Though alliance with different breeds of Republicanism raised many eyebrows and public embrace between Solferino - representative of "blood-thirsty clericalism"[98] - and vehemently anti-clerical Salmerón sent shocking waves across Catalonia,[99] Llanza enjoyed full support of the claimant,[100] also when joining executive junta of Solidaritat Catalana.

[107] Solferino himself assumed a new tone when speaking in the Senate; in 1908 the national press reported him as declaring Spain a confederation[108] and confirming that "Cataluña es un Estado y España una Confederación".

[112] Already in 1908 there were rumors of Solferino replacing Janer,[113] but they turned into fact no earlier than two years later; enjoying good relations with the new claimant don Jaime,[114] in February 1910 the duque was appointed the new jefe of regional Catalan Carlism.

At that time Catalunya muntanyenca, traditional inner-Catalonia of rural hills and valleys, was getting dominated by the maritime belt, the urban area and its newly emergent social strata.

Around the turn of the decades the center of gravity of Catalan Carlism moved from countryside to Barcelona; between 1907 and 1913 the number of circulos in the city grew from 3 to 11,[116] most of the new ones in peripheral workers districts.

Though the movement has always been known for its belligerent spirit if not sheer brutality, specifics of the newly emergent Barcelona Requeté organization was its penchant for a new type of urban violence, known as pistolerismo.

[123] Following the 1912 Granollers incident, when Requetés fired at Republican crowd resulting in one fatal casualty and many people wounded,[124] Solferino dissolved the nucleus of radicalism, Ateneo Tradicionalista,[125] though the conflict with its activists like Vives Suria continued also later on.

[134] It was rather Llanza who was getting tired of conflict, especially as Junta Provincial of Lleida refused to accept a Barcelona-appointed Carlist candidate to the Cortes and situation in the province became increasingly chaotic.

As in 1918 the claimant was released from his home arrest in Austria, early next year he arrived in Paris and issued two manifestos, lambasting those disloyal and announcing forthcoming personal changes.

As the first taxpayer of the Huesca province[149] and one of the wealthiest Barcelona residents Solferino was involved in numerous economic activities, especially those related to agriculture: from taking part in fairs and competitions[150] to animating mutual insurance associations,[151] landholders' organizations,[152] lobbying[153] and drafting banking real estate credit regulations;[154] he was member of Instituto Agrícola Catalán de San Isidro.