Imanol Pradales

Imanol Pradales Gil (born 21 April 1975) is a Basque politician and sociologist from Spain, member of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV). After leading his party in the 2024 regional election, he became the next Lehendakari.

He served as Foral Deputy (regional minister) of Infrastructure and Territorial Development of the Foral Council of Bizkaia from 2023 to 2024, upon stepping down to contest the 2024 Basque regional election. He has held the position of Foral Deputy for Economic Promotion (2011-2015), for Economic and Territorial Development (2015-2019) and for Infrastructure and Territorial Development (2019-2023).

Previously, he held the position of managing director of the public talent recruitment agency Bizkaia Talent, attached to the economic promotion department of the Foral Council of Bizkaia between 2007 and 2011.

Early life
Imanol Pradales Gil was born on 21 April 1975 in Mamariga, a neighbourhood of Santurtzi, to a Basque nationalist family of non-Basque-speakers, the eldest of four children. Pradales has displayed "having eight Castilian surnames", with his ancestors having immigrated to the Basque Country in the beginning of the twentieth century from Burgos, Valladolid and Cantabria. His father, Manuel Pradales, was born in Uribarri, Bilbao, and his mother, Rosa Gil, is from Santurtzi. Both of his parents joined the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) the same day in 1976. His father had previously been an underground member of the party during the Francoist dictatorship, and during the Transition he served as a member of the first Municipal Board of Santurtzi. He owned a garage that closed due to the 2008 financial crisis. His mother owned a hairdressing salon that also closed, after which she worked as a cook in batzokis, the political bars of the PNV. His paternal grandfather fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, and was injured on the bombing of Otxandio.

Pradales studied primary, secondary and Baccalaureate education at the Asti Leku Ikastola, a private Ikastola of Portugalete. There he was taught natural science and Spanish language by Iñigo Urkullu, a member of the PNV and future Lehendakari of the Basque Country.

Pradales earned a licentiate in Sociology and Political Science at the University of Deusto, where he enrolled thanks to the compensation that his grandfather had received for his war service. He got his master's degree in Knowledge Management from the Technical University of Madrid and completed a postgraduate in Advanced Education Management at the IE Business School. In 2004, he returned to Deusto to receive his Doctorate in Sociology and Political Science and started working there as a professor until he was granted a leave of absence upon entering politics in 2007.

Early political career
In 2005, Iñigo Urkullu, then president of the Biscayne PNV, asked Pradales to write a scholarly paper about employment and competitiveness. In light of his research, in 2007, Pradales was offered to enter politics as the CEO of Bizkaia:xede—later renamed Bizkaia Talent—a Biscayne talent recruitment agency. In 2008, he became one of the coordinators of "Think Gaur", the PNV's think tank, following an offer by Urkullu.

Following the 2011 Basque foral elections, General Deputy of Biscay José Luis Bilbao appointed Pradales as Foral Deputy (regional minister) of Economic Development. From 2015 until his resignation in 2024, he was reappointed in the cabinets of the General Deputies Unai Rementería and Elixabete Etxanobe as Foral Deputy of Economic and Territorial Development under the former, and as Foral Deputy of Infrastructure and Territorial Development under the latter. During his tenure, he was the main promoter of the extension of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao into the Urdaibai estuary.

In 2015, Pradales came under criticism after being disclosed that while at office he had bought 7,200 shares of the construction company Sacyr, which had been awarded several projects in Bizkaia such as the Autzagane tunnels and the Igorre by-pass. Despite defending that the purchase "was legal and there is no conflict of interest" and ruling out his resignation, he acknowledged that he had made a "mistake" and sold all of his shares in the company.

2024 Basque regional election
On 25 November 2023, the EAJ-PNV's National Executive Branch (Euzkadi Buru Batzar, EBB) appointed Pradales as the party's candidate for Lehendakari in the 2024 Basque regional election, replacing incumbent Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu. The surprising dismissal of the incumbent Lehendakari and the appointment of a low-profile young man were seen as an attempt to promote a generational renewal in the party and to halt the growth of EH Bildu. He was unanimously ratified as candidate for Lehendakari on 27 January 2024 by the General Assembly of the party and selected as the leading candidate for Biscay.

Opinion polls for the election suggested a neck and neck race between the PNV and EH Bildu, with the latter being favoured to become the largest force in the Basque Parliament for the first time ever. Initially, the campaign stayed away from national politics and Basque independence, revolving around criticism of the PNV over the previous government's management of Osakidetza, the Basque health system, and the housing crisis. However, the campaign heated up in its last week following comments from EH Bildu's candidate, Pello Otxandiano, refusing to describe ETA as a "terrorist organization," which prompted criticism from the rest of the parties.

On 16 April 2024, Pradales was attacked with pepper spray after attending a campaign rally at Barakaldo while he was heading to an electoral debate organized by the EITB. His aggressor, a 49-years-old man, was immediately arrested by the Ertzaintza and Pradales was admitted to the Gurutzeta hospital after losing his sight in the left eye. Nonetheless, Pradales eventually took part in the debate, where the attack was condemned by every other candidate.

In the election, the PNV won 35.2% of the vote, a decline of 3.7% compared to the previous election, but narrowly prevailed as the most voted party by almost 30,000 votes. However, the PNV tied at 27 seats with EH Bildu, losing 4 seats. The Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE) emerged as the kingmaker with 12 seats, making a repetition of the incumbent coalition between the PNV and the PSE–EE the likeliest outcome.

Personal life
Pradales is married to Laura Sáez, with whom he has a daughter.