Francisco López Sanz (1896-1977) was a Spanish publisher and writer, known mostly by his pen-names of Lopezarra, SAB and other. He achieved recognition as long-time manager of a local Navarrese daily El Pensamiento Navarro (1933-1966), though he was also briefly related - either as editor-in-chief, owner or author - to some 20 other periodicals. His press contributions span some 60 years, between the early 1910s and the early 1970s. Politically throughout all his life he was a firm and militant adherent of Carlism; in 1941-1944 he formed part of the regional Navarrese executive of Comunión Tradicionalista. In 1961-1967 he served two terms in the Francoist Cortes; during 3 separate stings of 1922-1923, 1930-1931 and 1940-1942 he was member of the Pamplona ayuntamiento. Today he is considered a paradigmatic exponent of heroic, Traditionalist Navarrese narrative, firmly anchored in Catholic values and a Manichean ideological perspective.
Family and youth
The earliest representative of the family identified is Manuel López Echeverria (born 1790) from the village of Torralba del Río in south-western Navarre.he was married to Juliana Muru Goñi Huarte (1818-¿), Manuel Maria Lopez Echeverria entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here His son and the paternal grandfather of Francisco was Francisco López Muru (born 1826),Francisco Eustaquio Maria Lopez Muru entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here also the native of Torralba; in 1854 he married Felipa Latasa Astiz, a girl from Mendigorria in central Navarre.she was daughter to a couple from Mendigorría, Francisco Marcelino Latasa Salaberri (1806-?) and Juliana Jeronima Astiz Suescun (Mendigorria 1806-?), Felipa Latasa Astiz entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here None of the sources consulted provides clear information on their social status, though some suggest they were of "humble origins", most likely local farmers. In the mid-19th century Francisco and Felipa settled in Pamplona, and this is where their son and Francisco's father, Agapito López Latasa (1861-1917) was born.Diario de Navarra 29.08.17 He joined the ranks of the urban proletariat and worked as a moulder in the local foundry workshop.Ángel García-Sanz Marcotegui, Intransigencia, exaltación y populismo. La política navarra en tres semanarios criptocarlistas (1913-1915), Donostia 1994, ISBN 8471482835, p. 33 In 1895Agapito Lopez Latasa entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here he married Baldomera Sanz Berramendi (1869-1951);Diario de Navarra 16.12.51, El Pensamiento Navarro 16.12.51; in some sources her segundo apellido appears as "Beramendi" or "Veramendi" though the bride was from Santesteban, a town at the Pyrenean foothills, her ancestors were also from Torralba and it seems that the families knew each other.she was daughter to Pedro Sanz Herreros(?-?) and Micaela Martina Dionisia Beramendi Urchipia (1848-?) from Torralba. The latter was in turn daughter to a couple from Santesteban, and maybe - which was not uncommon common these days - she gave birth in the family house of her grandparents in Santesteban. For detailed genealogical tree see Baldomera Sanz Beramendi entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here The couple lived in the suburban Pamplonese district of RochapeaGarcía-Sanz 1994, p. 33 and Agapito ascended to some local recognition.his death was acknowledged in the local daily, see Diario de Navarra 29.08.17 It is not clear how many children they had, though Francisco had at least 4 siblings.these known are Felipa (who became a nun), Saturnino, Dario and María López-Sanz Latasa, El Pensamiento Navarro 12.12.77, available here
When aged 6–9 Francisco lived with maternal grandparents near Molina de Aragón, where his grandfather was teaching in a rural school.his maternal grandfather was a teacher in one of local rural schools, Homenaje a un escritor en Molina de Aragón y recuerdos de mi nuñez, [in:] El Pensamiento Navarro 20.08.63, available here Himself he received the early schooling with the Marists of Pamplona; he did not pursue an academic career and received vocational training in Escuela de Artes y Oficios, also in the Navarrese capital; the year when he obtained bachillerato is unclear, probably falling on the early 1910s.Rosa Marina Errea Iribas, Javier Maria Pascual y El Pensamiento Navarro: "con él llego el escándalo" (1966-1970), Pamplona 2007, ISBN 9788477681922, p. 69 In the mid-1910s (sources provide dates of 1916Aurora Villanueva Martínez, El carlismo navarro durante el primer franquismo, 1937-1951, Madrid 1998, ISBN 9788487863714, p. 551 and 1917Manuel Iribarren, Escritores navarros de ayer y de hoy, Pamplona 1970, p. 141, also Alberto Martínez Artola, López Sanz Latasa, Francisco entry, [in:] Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia online, available here; when leaving El Pensamiento Navarro in 1966 he was hailed as "redactor desde hace más de 49 años", Errea Iribas 2007, p. 56) he commenced work for the Pamplonese daily El Pensamiento Navarro, either as colaboradorVillanueva Martínez 1998, p. 551 or as member of the editorial board,Iribarren 1970, p. 141. When leaving in 1966 he was "redactor desde hace más de 49 años", Errea Iribas 2007, p. 56 in 1919 growing to full-time redactor.Villanueva Martínez 1998, p. 551 This would become his lifetime employment until the mid-1960s, though initially López Sanz collaborated or even animated other local and short-lived periodicals.
Following obligatory military service of 1921-1922, which he performed according to the scaled-down format of soldado de cuotaDiario de Navarra 24.09.21, Diario de Navarra 15.06.43 in Regimiento de América in Morocco,El Adelanto 01.02.22, available here in 1924 López Sanz got married. The bride was Agustina Fernández Otamendi (1893–1968), a girl from Guirguillano in central Navarre. There is close to nothing known about her parents,except that she was daughter to Francisco Josef Fernandez Arzoz (Morentin 1852-1928) and Brigida Otamendi Asensio (Zudaire 1856-1943), Agustina Fernandez Otamendi entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here l though they must have enjoyed some recognition as their passing away was acknowledged in the local press.Diario de Navarra 10.11.28 Francisco and Agustina settled and lived in Pamplona. They had 3 children, two boys and a girl.named Francisco Javier, Jesús María and María de las Mercedes, El Pensamiento Navarro 12.12.77, available here The best known one was Jesús María Lopez-Sanz Fernández (1928–1980). He became a locally recognized personality, and this was on two accounts. One was his activity as first a handball player and then the promoter of handball, who contributed to development of this sport in Spain.see e.g. Historia, [in:] Anatasuna service, available here Another was his professional career of a pediatrician, which gained him prestige, respect, and a "Doctor López-Sanz" street in Pamplona.see Calle Doctor López-Sanz entry, [in:] Callejero service, available here His son and the grandson of López Sanz, Jesus López Sanz Echarren (born 1965), is a moderately known filmmaker and remains active in the Navarrese cultural ambience.Jesús López-Sanz Echarren, "Estoy haciendo un documental sobre mi padre", [in:] Diario de Navarra 27.04.08, available here, also El documental El doctor, del pamplonés Jesús López-Sanz, se estrenará en 2010, [in:] Navarra.es service 26.02.10, available here. It is not clear whether the documentary mentioned has ever been completed
Late Restoration and Dictatorship
Francisco's ancestors were die-hard Carlists;including his great-grandfather and grandfather, Manuel Del Arco, Mano a mano: Francisco López-Sans, [in:] La Vanguardia 20.06.60 his father at the age of 12 escaped from home to join legitimist troops.Del Arco 1960 Francisco inherited the outlook in its most belligerent format. His first press excursions are related to a Traditionalist bulletin La Trinchera; in 1914 Francisco used to contribute combative articles, aimed against the faction known as Napartarras;the collective name is derived from the periodical they edited, titled Napartarra, Javier Díaz Noci, La lengua vasca en la prensa y los comics navarros de la preguerra (1918-1939), [in:] Javier Díaz Noci, Berripaperak(1766 –1937), Donostia 2007, p. 9 López Sanz lambasted their alleged separatism and dubbed them "these swine"."esos puercos", Ángel García-Sanz Marcotegui, Fernando García de Cortázar, José María Lorenzo Espinosa, Historia del País Vasco: de los orígenes a nuestros días, Donostia 1994, ISBN 8471482835, p. 52 In 1915 he co-animated Sindicatos Libres, Catholic trade unions."una de sus figuras principales fue el carlista Francisco López Sanz", Iván Giménez, ELA en Nafarroa. Cien años de transformación y lucha (1911-2011), Tafalla 2012, ISBN 9788415313274, p. 16. The syndicalist episode of López Sanz was well remembered half a century later, see "Vd. mismo, querido D. Francisco, fue en sus buenos años de juventud, sindicalista libre" (a 1970 letter from Antonio Izal Montero to López Sanz), Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, El naufragio de las ortodoxias. El carlismo, 1962–1977, Pamplona 1997, ISBN 9788431315641, p. 63 Already as colaborador or redactor of El Pensamiento NavarroVillanueva Martínez 1998, p. 551 and together with Ignacio Baleztenathe owners, who also formed the editorial team, were Ignacio Baleztena, Francisco López Sanz and Juan Larrambebere, Radica: semanario carlista entry, [in:] BiNaDi service, available here in December 1919 he launched an own periodical, Radica. Its emergence was triggered by the Mellista breakup within Carlism. The first issue declared total loyalty to the claimantthe first issue of Radica, which appeared in December 1919, contained the text, titled De nuestra bandera and signed by López Sanz. The text read that "Dios, Patria y Rey es el lema sacrosanto", Radica 20.12.19, available here and the subsequent ones kept mocking Vázquez de Mella, "Juan el Vanidoso" and "camaleón".compare Radica 16.07.21, available here. Radica specialized in publishing older articles of de Mella, in which the theorist boasted of his loyalty to the Carlist king Another omnipresent thread was cherishing local Navarrese identity; at one point the editors declared "odio eterno al centralismo y un asco mortal al patrioterismo".Radica 11.12.20, available here López Sanz published under his surname, as "Lopezarra", "F.L.S.", and perhaps also using other, unidentified pen-names. The periodical - intended as a weekly but in fact an irregular - briefly claimed to be the paper of Juventudes Jaimistas de Navarra.El Correo Español 19.11.20, available here Some articles were at least acknowledged in El Correo Español, a Madrid daily which aspired to the role of official Traditionalist mouthpiece.El Correo Español 09.02.21, available here However, Radica struggled financially and following desperate appeals for subscription, the last issue appeared in August 1921.Radica 06.08.21, available here