Content Warning: The text addresses themes of death by suicide and suicidal ideation alongside employing outdated and offensive terminology regarding people with disabilities.

Miguel de Unamuno positions himself as the narrator and asserts that his work, Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr, is one of his best pieces and a true representation of his style. He deliberately wrote the story in a philosophical and shadowy manner, avoiding physical descriptions so that readers can exercise their imagination. Unamuno aimed to express the tragedy of everyday life, even in its most mundane moments.

The setting was inspired by the lake in San Martín de la Castañeda, situated in Sanabria, where a legend of a submerged city named Valverde de Lucerna exists. During his visit in 1930, he expressed his sadness about the lake in two poems. The nearby villages, including Riba de Lago, lay in a state of destitution. The village was made up of shacks with mud walls, and the locals could not fish in the lake due to a wealthy landowner who claimed exclusive rights. Although the author’s Valverde de Lucerna was inspired by these villages, none of them directly correspond to the setting in his story.