though very much embracing Traditionalist principles, it fell short of declaring him the legitimate Carlist pretender. Mid-Francoism In semi-free elections of 1951 Arellano got voted into the Pamplona ayuntamiento and was accordingly entrusted with assignments to numerous municipal initiatives, like Caja de Ahorros Municipal de Pamplona. Following the 1952 death of Rodezno many looked to Arellano as to the next informal leader of collaborative pro-Juanista Carlists; possibly to enhance his position, Franco awarded him with the prestigious Gran Cruz Meritísima de la Orden de San Raimundo de Peñafort and appointed to the 1943-created Cortes Españoles, the Francoist quasi-parliament. In 1953 Arellano was admitted by Franco during a personal audience. Re-emergent position enabled him to engage successfully in prolonged effort to repel the Falangist takeover of the local Navarrese administration; the conflict climaxed in 1954 when the Falangist Gobernador Civil, Luis Valero Bermejo, requested that Ministry of Interior administers special measures against Arellano. The showdown ended with Bermejo recalled to Madrid and total victory of the Navarrese. Active within a broad Carlist realm, Arellano pursued an ambiguous and complex policy. Within Navarre he tried to counter the influence of Fal Conde by supporting the iconic local Baleztena family, generally loyal to Don Javier but displaying a fairly independent stand. On the national scene he did not succeed Rodezno as key carlo-franquista, the role assumed rather by Esteban Bilbao and Antonio Iturmendi. He did, however, emerge as leader of the Juanistas. When the Javierista cause got reinvigorated by the 1957 fulminant appearance of Don Carlos Hugo during the annual Montejurra gathering, the Juanistas mounted a counter-action; late that year Arellano presided over delegation of 50-odd Carlists who visited Don Juan in his Estoril residence and declared him legitimate Carlist successor. Arellano himself entered the Private Council of the pretender. In 1958 together with the Minister of Interior Camilo Alonso Vega he engineered a scheme to control the successive Montejurra gathering. Potential attendants from beyond Navarre were banned from travelling and Arellano himself appeared during the feast. The plot backfired; angry Javierista youth threatened Arellano, who had to leave protected by Guardia Civil; Montejurra became a promotional stage for Carlos Hugo during the next 10 years. At the turn of the decades Arellano remained one of key Navarrese politicians. Though no longer member of Consejo Nacional, he was assured seat in the Cortes from the pool reserved for personal Franco's appointees; until mid-1960s