page_title: Juan Vázquez de Mella
section_title: Rise to political prominence (1890–1900)
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Vázquez de Mella / Rise to political prominence (1890–1900)
caption_attribution_description: Español: Retrato del aristócrata español Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa (1845-1922), XVII marqués de Cerralbo, Grande de España y caballero de la Orden del Toisón de Oro.
context_page_description: Juan Vázquez de Mella y Fanjul was a Spanish politician and a political theorist. He is counted among the greatest Traditionalist thinkers, at times considered the finest author of Spanish Traditionalism of all time. A politician active within Carlism, he served as a longtime Cortes deputy and one of the party leaders. He championed an own political strategy, known as Mellismo, which led to secession and formation of a separate grouping.
context_section_description: De Mella's assumption of chief editor role stirred controversy. He was reported as rather loosely approaching his duties, working short hours, being absent from the office for 2–3 days and pursuing own interests. Alarmed by Herrero, in the early 1890s the claimant's secretary Melgar repeatedly demanded from Venice that Cerralbo brings his protégé into discipline, the calls which produced little effect. De Mella kept contributing broadly aimed and high quality pieces, but the daily was left mostly to Herrero and the administrative manager, Puiggrós. This was to continue until the late 1890s, also de Mella himself increasingly disappointed with editorial work.
  De Mella owed his position not only to his pen, but also to co-operation with Cerralbo. In the early 1890s the marquis launched an innovative scheme of touring the country and mobilizing support by means of public gatherings and close meetings; de Mella used to accompany him, acknowledging the journeys and Cerralbo's addresses in booklets. At times he took the floor himself, due to oratorical skills gaining more and more attention. During the 1891 elections to the Cortes he was placed on the Carlist list in Valls; a typical cuckoo candidate, he lost. He renewed his bid from the Navarrese Estella, another constituency he had no personal relation with. Following enormously conflictive campaign against the governmental candidate this time de Mella won, commencing a string of Carlist Estella victories which was to last almost continuously until the end of Restoration.
  A member of tiny Carlist minority, in the Cortes de Mella exercised little influence over the legislative work. However, he soon gained attention as an individual, taking on most respected politicians and his exhilarating addresses exercising hypnotic effect. Increasingly respected especially among the Conservatives, in the mid-1890s he was offered Ministry of Education, the post he declined. Re-elected from Estella in 1896 and 1898, he was already a Carlist and parliamentary star; also addresses at public meetings were received frenetically. The claimant was delighted; in 1897 de Mella was invited to visit him in Venice, when he heavily contributed to the programmatic document known as Acta de Loredan. 
  Acting on Carlos VII's order de Mella resigned from the parliament in 1898 and did not take part in the 1899 elections. At that time the Carlists were mounting a coup supposed to topple the Restoration regime; de Mella contributed propaganda wise, fathering ambiguous press notes and public addresses. Following another visit to Venice in 1899 he entered a Carlist junta entrusted with wartime preparations. As the claimant developed doubts, in 1900 de Mella seemed to side with those determined to rise even in case no order is given, though there is no evidence that he actually instigated the rising, which boiled down to a series of minor October 1900 revolts known as La Octubrada. In the aftermath his Madrid house was raided by the police, which seemed minor inconvenience compared to wrath of the claimant. Suspecting the entire party leadership of treason, he ordered de Mella out of Correo.
caption: marqués de Cerralbo
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