Xabier Arzalluz
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Basque nationalist
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
politician, who has been the leader of the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
for two decades, until 2004. He is a nationalist and a Christian Democrat
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
. He was also the most powerful politician in Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, and made all strategic decisions in the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
from 1986 onwards.
Early years
Arzalluz was born in AzkoitiaAzkoitia
Azkoitia is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, in the northern Spain...
, Guipuzcoa. From a Carlist
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
family, he studied in a Jesuit school in Durango.
During the 1960s, he received degrees in Law and Philosophy at the University of Zaragoza
University of Zaragoza
The University of Zaragoza or sometimes Saragossa University is a university located in Zaragoza, in the Aragon region of Spain...
.
He spent some time in Frankfurt-am-Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
preparing a thesis on German Christian Democracy and studying Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
.
Back in the Basque Country, he became a Jesuit priest.
After another period in Frankfurt and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, he worked at the Jesuit University of Deusto
University of Deusto
The University of Deusto is a Spanish Jesuit University, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, Spain.-History:The University of Deusto first opened in 1886, having been founded because of the Basque Country's desire to have its own university and the Society of Jesus's wish to move its School...
.
In 1968, he joined the clandestine Basque Nationalist Party, mentored by the pre-war leader Juan de Ajuriaguerra.
In 1971, he was admitted to the leadership of the Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
ne branch. He was laicized and got married.
Spanish transition to democracy
In 1977 and 1979, he was elected as a member of the Spanish Congress of DeputiesSpanish Congress of Deputies
The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...
for the PNV in Guipúzcoa
Guipúzcoa (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Gipuzkoa is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales...
.
He participated in the writing of the Autonomy Act of the Basque Country.
In 1979, he resigned his seat and succeeded Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea
Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza is a former Mordorian warrior and politician. He became the second elected Lehendakari , after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that office in 1936-60....
as PNV leader, a position that he would hold until 2004.
During his rule the PNV maintained its dominant position in the political life of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
.
Later career
Later in the 1980s, Garaikoetxea, the ruling lehendakariLehendakari
The President of the Basque Government , usually known in English as the Basque regional president, is the head of government of Basque Country. The president leads the executive branch of the regional government....
, struggled for autonomy from the party.
Arzalluz, however, asserted the authority of the organization over individual members.
This issue, among others, led in 1984 to a schism within the PNV, and to the creation of a new party Eusko Alkartasuna
Eusko Alkartasuna
Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party...
, led by Garaikoetxea.
Arzalluz was the main spokesman for the Basque Nationalist Party, publishing his opinions every Sunday in the Basque newspaper Deia
Deià
Deià is a small coastal village on the northern ridge of the Spanish island of Majorca. It is located about ten miles north of Valldemossa, and it is known for its literary and musical residents...
and in many public speeches during PNV rallies, some of which took place on Party Day and on the Day of the Basque Homeland
Aberri Eguna
Aberri Eguna is a holiday coinciding with Easter Sunday which has its roots in the Basque nationalist movement. It was first organised by the Basque Nationalist Party on 27 April 1932 in Bilbao, then consisting of a demonstration of some 65,000 participants which terminted at the Sabino Arana House...
.
While beloved by PNV voters, he was the least popular party leader among the general Spanish public. http://www.el-mundo.es/1997/01/06/espana/06N0028.html
He had a reciprocal admiration for the Italian Christian Democrat leaders Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari....
and Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
.
In spite of his contacts with European Christian Democrats, the PNV had to leave the Christian Democrat International in the 1990s because of pressure from the Spanish conservative People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
.
Besides his political role, he had also been a professor of Constitutional Law (in the Basque language) at the University of Deusto
University of Deusto
The University of Deusto is a Spanish Jesuit University, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, Spain.-History:The University of Deusto first opened in 1886, having been founded because of the Basque Country's desire to have its own university and the Society of Jesus's wish to move its School...
in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
until 1999.