Mertxe Aizpurua

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Mertxe Aizpurua
Aizpurua in June 2023
Member of the Congress of Deputies
Assumed office
21 May 2019
ConstituencyGipuzkoa
Mayor of Usurbil
In office
15 June 2011 – 15 June 2015
Preceded byXabier Mikel
Succeeded byXabier Arregi
Personal details
Born
María de las Mercedes Aizpurua Arzallus

(1960-01-18) 18 January 1960 (age 64)
Usurbil, Basque Country, Spain
Political partyEH Bildu
OccupationJournalist

Mertxe Aizpurua Arzallus (born 18 January 1960) is a Spanish journalist and politician from the Basque Country who currently serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain.

Early life[edit]

Aizpurua was born on 18 January 1960 in Usurbil, Basque Country.[1][2] She has a Bachelor of Information Science degree.[1]

Career[edit]

Aizpurua was editor of the Egin newspaper and Punto y Hora de Euskal Herria magazine.[3] In September 1983 Punto y Hora published an editorial on Basque separatist "soldiers" and an interview with a brother of an ETA separatist killed whilst handling an explosive device in Tafalla, Navarre.[4] In October 1984 the Audiencia Nacional convicted Aizpurua of "supporting terrorism" and sentenced her to one year in prison and barred her from working as a journalist for one year.[5][6][7]

Aizpurua was a journalist at the Gara newspaper since its establishment in 1999 and was a director from 1999 to 2004.[8][9] In June 2001 she was interrogated by Audiencia Nacional judge Baltasar Garzón after Gara published an interview with two ETA leaders.[10] The case against Aizpurua was finally dropped in March 2004.[11]

Aizpurua is currently director of Gara's 7K Sunday newspaper.[9][12] She is the author of Argala: Pensamiento en Acción : Vida y Escritos (2018), a biography of assassinated ETA leader Argala.[13]

Aizpurua contested the 2011 local elections as a Bildu electoral alliance candidate in Usurbil and was elected.[14] She was mayor of Usurbil from 2011 to 2015 and president of Udalbiltza (an association of municipalities from the greater Basque Country) from 2012 to 2015.[1][9] She contested the 2019 general election as an EH Bildu electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Gipuzkoa and was elected to the Congress of Deputies.[15][16]

Personal life[edit]

Aizpurua is married and has a son.[1]

Electoral history[edit]

Electoral history of Mertxe Aizpurua
Election Constituency Party Alliance No. Result
2011 local[14] Usurbil Bildu 1 Elected
2019 general[15][16] Province of Gipuzkoa EH Bildu 1 Elected

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Members: XIII Legislatura ( 2019-Actualidad) - Aizpurua Arzallus, Mertxe" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Udalbiltzako lehendakariak ez du hautetsi segituko Usurbilen". Berria (in Basque). Andoain, Spain. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Presentación de 'Gara', el diario que sustituirá a 'Egin' en 1999". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. 30 November 1998. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Index". Index on Censorship. 14 (1). London, U.K.: 64 February 1985. doi:10.1080/03064228508533847.
  5. ^ Yoldi, José (4 October 1984). "Hoy será juzgada la directora de la revista 'Punto y Hora'". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  6. ^ Yoldi, José (16 October 1984). "Condenada por apología del terrorismo la directora técnica de 'Punto y Hora'". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. ^ Clark, Robert P. (1990). Negotiating with ETA: Obstacles to Peace in the Basque Country, 1975-1988. Reno, U.S.A.: University of Nevada Press. p. 54. ISBN 0-87417-162-8.
  8. ^ "Egoera berezia zen, ilegalizazioa zela eta egoera berezia zelako pentsatu nuen ezin nuela ezezkoa eman". Ihintza (in Basque). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Mertxe Aizpurua, cabeza de lista de EH Bildu por Gipuzkoa". Naiz (in Spanish). San Sebastián, Spain. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  10. ^ Lázaro, Julio M. (16 June 2001). "'Gara' quemó las cintas de la entrevista a ETA". El País (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Mertxe Aizpurua eta Martxelo Otamendi auzi honekin ez auzipetzea erabaki du Garzonek". Berria (in Basque). Andoain, Spain. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Mertxe Aizpurua Espainiako Diputatuen Kongresurako EHBilduren Gipuzkoako zerrendaburua izango da". Usurbildarrak aurrera (in Basque). 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  13. ^ Aizpurua, Mertxe (2018). Argala: pensamiento en acción : vida y escritos. Astero. ISBN 9788494959509.
  14. ^ a b "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2011 - Mun. Usurbil" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  15. ^ a b "Otras Disposiciones: Junta Electoral Central - Elecciones generales. Proclamación de candidaturas" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). No. 79. Madrid, Spain: Government of Spain. 2 April 2019. p. 34288. ISSN 0212-033X. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Otras Disposiciones: Junta Electoral Central - Elecciones generales. Resultados" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). No. 129. Madrid, Spain: Government of Spain. 30 May 2019. p. 57377. ISSN 0212-033X. Retrieved 30 May 2019.

External links[edit]

Mertxe Aizpurua on Twitter