Mahón writer revives Castile's kingmaker in El traidor

Two decades of power without a crown: a journalist from Mahón, in the Balearic Islands, brings Juan Pacheco’s rise in Castile to the page in El traidor. Fernando Nadal Moya’s new novel, published by Edhasa, follows the trusted adviser to King Enrique IV who could decide who gained power and who fell from favour. Its publication was reported from Madrid on 10 October 2026.

Pacheco began as a page and became the most powerful nobleman in the kingdom. Nadal Moya says what caught his attention was how Pacheco climbed so far: he did not just take advantage of crises, the writer argues, but created them.

Nadal Moya came across Pacheco while researching Álvaro de Luna, the central figure in his earlier novel La daga del rey. Watching the series Isabel later gave him the idea to write about Pacheco. With El traidor, he continues his story of Castile’s struggles for power.

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Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com