Gortázar's father was a Liberal, active republican and friend of Castelar. It is not clear how the young Dolores developed Traditionalist sympathies; in the 1890s she was already a declared Carlist. Initially her activity was about organizing prayers and donations for the Spanish army fighting in Cuba, yet already in 1899 she engaged in veladas artisticas of the León círculo carlista. Successful proselytizing in private she took up propaganda works also in public, commencing cooperation with the semi-official Carlist mouthpiece, "El Correo Español". In 1900 rumored even to launch her own Traditionalist daily, at that time she was already known as "ilustre dama carlista".