Spanish costumbrist writer, bull-fighting critic and politician. Son of Francisco Estébanez and María Calderón. He was adopted by his uncle and aunt. He studied with Antonio Recalde and the priests from the Iglesia de la Concepción. After that, he went to Granada where he did Law. His first publication was an ode to Riego by the time of his military uprising. In 1822, he arrived to Málaga and became professor of Rhetoric and Arts in the seminary, apart from being government prosecutor of the bishopric. When the intervention of the Duke of Angulema took place in 1823, he was a member of the National Militia, hence he had to escape to Gibraltar. He came back to Málaga and discovered that his lawyer's accreditations had been withheld, so he had to return to Granada in order to recover them. He founded a lawyer's firm in Málaga and worked there.

In 1830, he settled in Madrid in an attempt to boost his literary career, starting working then as a theater critic. He had a relevant social life, forging a friendship with the Marquess of Zambrano, Duchess of Frías and Counts of Tebas, who introduced him to Prospere Merimée. His first costumbrist works were published in Cartas Españolas and Revista Española. In 1833, he was appointed director of Diario de la Administración by Francisco Javier de Burgos.

When the first Carlist Wars started, he was named auditor of the Ejército del Norte (Army of the North) and in 1835, he was trusted as political chief of Logroño. He came back to Madrid and focused on studying the folklore and Arabian resources. In 1838, he was appointed political chief too, but this time of Sevilla, where he developed a great cultural career. Nevertheless, he had to quit the position after the uprising of General Narváez. In 1839, he married Matilde Libermoore Salas and linked himself to José de Salamanca and Manuel Agustín de Heredia. Thanks to those contacts, he became administrative of the salt's income. In those years, he took on the protection of a young Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, with whom he also had family ties. Furthermore, he was Councillor of the Royal Academy of History.

In 1849, he became again the General Auditor of the Italian's expeditionary army, whose main purpose was to guarantee the restoration of the power of Pío IX. When he was in the transalpine country, he became a close friend of Juan Valera. Even though he had no position in the progressive period, he was named Councillor of State in the government of Narváez.

The death of his wife in 1856 was an adversity, but he continued with his career as an author. One of his greatest passions was the research of bibliographical treasures. He created an important library that would end up in the National Library.