El Siglo Futuro

El Siglo Futuro was a Spanish Traditionalist/Integrist daily newspaper, published in Madrid between 1875 and 1936.

Organisational history

It was founded by the Carlist politician and thinker

anarchists

.

Key threads

The principal objective of El Siglo Futuro remained the defence of Catholic faith and position of the Church in Spain. Ultraconservative, its primary foe was

modern Catholic state. The daily remained strongly monarchical, though with less clear dynastical allegiances. Disseminated what it perceived traditional Spanish values. In the 20th century the paper led the venomous campaign against the Jews and the freemasonry, claiming that Judaism is the head and the Freemasonry is the arms of the satanic monster; the Jews were alternately accused of alliance with the Russian Bolshevism or with the capitalist plutocracy

. In 1930s El Siglo was a fairly typical Spanish party paper, excelling in bombastic, hyperbolical, inflammatory, intransigent, sectarian phraseology – very much like the republican or socialist press, let alone the anarchist or communist papers. The official Spanish digital archive describes the late daily as fanatically fundamentalist, consumed by apocalyptic obsession and dubbed a caveman.

Contemporary issues

El Siglo Futuro pronounced on every issue faced by Spain of its time. It fought the

Republic, welcomed the rise of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, to turn against the latter following the assassination of Engelbert Dollfuss

.

Continuity and change

Throughout its lifetime El Siglo Futuro remained an ultraconservative, vehemently antiliberal and then fiercely antidemocratic vehicle of pursuing traditional values centered on the Catholic faith. The competitive position of the newspaper remained fairly stable, trailing far behind the mainstream dailies. On the Spanish national press market of the 20th century it maintained a circulation of 5,000, compared to 200,000 of the monarchist ABC or 80,000 of the Christian El Debate in the late 1930s. The readership base remained mostly the same, composed of parish clergy and Traditionalist activists. The layout and design evolved. Initially it was composed of six pages seven columns each. Over the years, editorial segment was expanded with economic, sports and culture sections added. In 1920s El Siglo Futuro started to include photography and cartoons, to change the design dramatically in 1935 and increasing to 32 pages.

Comparison to other Carlist dailies

There were many Traditionalist newspapers issued all over Spain throughout late 19th and early 20th century, though most of them short-lived and local. It is estimated that during the 1930s out of ca 300 dailies published across the country around 10% were Carlist, though only few gained some prominence. Compared to them, El Siglo Futuro was almost equaled in terms of circulation by the

Sevilla-based La Unión of Domingo Tejera, trailed by the smaller Pamplona-based El Pensamiento Navarro and the Vitoria-based El Pensamiento Álaves, both ca 3,000-4,000 copies each. Dynastical issues usually remained of lesser importance to El Siglo Futuro. The paper presented a somewhat broader perspective, dedicating more space to foreign affairs; other Carlist titles remained focused mostly on the national, if not purely regional issues. It was not attached to the traditional, Navarrese leadership of the Carlist movement and was the first to hail Manuel Fal Conde

as the new head. El Siglo Futuro was definitely less news-dependent, with editorials remaining frequent pieces. Finally, the geographical coverage and the readers’ base was visibly broader; as a Madrid daily it was reaching national decision-makers with more ease. In terms of prestige within the Carlist community only El Pensamiento Navarro could have compared to El Siglo Futuro.

Last years

Following the merger with mainstream Carlism in 1932 the paper became a semi-official organ of Comunión Tradicionalista. Its ownership passed from the Olazábal circle to the Editorial Tradicionalista company (headed by Conde Rodezno), which was in turn controlled by the Delegación Especial de Prensa (headed by Manuel González Quevedo). In 1935 Senante lost his overwhelming influence on the paper line; thanks to the party funds El Siglo Futuro was dramatically enhanced, but at a price of forming part of the centralised and modernised Carlist press system. The daily had to follow strict discipline, publishing official material and giving approved treatment to most public issues. If El Siglo Futuro retained its Integrist core it was only because the ex-Integrist Manuel Fal Conde was heading the Carlist movement at that time. In fact, El Siglo Futuro was one of the principal means allowing the ex-Integrists to occupy central position in the Carlist movement.

The end

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War the Madrid premises of the newspaper were ransacked and taken over by the

francoist

propaganda machine he hesitated until finally abandoning the idea.

References

Hemeroteca Digital, El Siglo Futuro
Antonio Checa Godoy, Prensa y partidos políticos durante la II República, Salamanca, 1989,
ISBN 8474815215

Eduardo González Calleja, "La prensa carlista y falangista durante la Segunda República y la Guerra Civil (1931-1937)", El Argonauta Espanol 9/2012
Isabel Martin Sanchez, "La campaña antimasónica en El Siglo Futuro", Historia y Comunicación Social, 1999

External links

El Siglo Futuro in Hemeroteca Digital