The Spanish writer and politician Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1833-1891) is best known for his novels and short stories, which depict in a lively, humorous manner the customs of the Spaniards of his region, Andalusia.

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón was born in Guadix in the province of Granada on March 10, 1833, the fourth of 10 children. He studied law and soon became involved in politics. A radical revolutionary, he led an insurrection in Granada against the clergy and army. In 1853 he went to Madrid to pursue a literary career but returned to Granada the following year. He was a member of the famous Cuerda Granadina (Granada Club), a group of dissident young artists and bohemians.

Alarcón soon returned to Madrid, where he contributed political articles to journals and became widely known as the editor of El Látigo (The Whip), an anticlerical, antidynastic...