Freshly graduated, launching his law career and active in the local Circol Jaumista, in 1920 Caylà ran on the Carlist ticket in elections to the municipal council, but was reprimanded by the party leader of the province, Joaquín Avellá, who made public that Caylà had not been nominated by the party. Local Carlists responded by claiming that Avellá only intended to favour the candidacy of his own brother, a member of the Conservative Party. Caylà could not get elected. However, in 1922 he ran again and was elected regidor as one of the most popular candidates. His career did not last long; the coming of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship in 1923 spelled replacement of elected bodies with the appointees; "Joventut" could have only lambasted the new regime for its corrupted political machinery. Things went from bad to worse in 1924, when Caylà and the young Jaimistas attempted to stage Festa dels Veterans and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Carlist takeover of the province; the regime reacted by closing circulos, suspending "Joventut" for 2 weeks and detaining Caylà, who spent 5 days in Tarragona prison and was ordered a month of exile in Lleida. Also during the years to come "Joventut" refused to endorse attempts to institutionalize the regime and rebuked its inefficiency and disregard for genuine representation, in result suffering 5 fines, 2 suspensions and 2 detentions.