Xabier Arzalluz Antia (24 August 1932 – 28 February 2019) was a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

politician, leader of the Basque Nationalist Party from 1979 until 2004. He was a nationalist and a

Christian Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

, considered during the period one of the most powerful politicians in the

Basque Autonomous Community The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

, making also all strategic decisions in the party he led from 1986 onwards.

Early years

Arzallus was born in Azkoitia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country. From a

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

family, he studied in a Jesuit school in Durango. During the 1960s, he received degrees in Law and Philosophy at the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon, Spain. Founded in 1542, it is one of the oldest universiti ...

. He spent some time in Frankfurt-am-Main preparing a thesis on German Christian Democracy and studying

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He became a Jesuit priest. After another period in Frankfurt and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, he worked at the Jesuit

University of Deusto The University of Deusto ( es, Universidad de Deusto; eu, Deustuko Unibertsitatea) is a Spanish private university owned by the Society of Jesus, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Deusto Business School branch in Madrid. The Un ...

. In 1969, he joined the clandestine Basque Nationalist Party, mentored by the pre-war leader

Juan de Ajuriaguerra ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. In 1971, he was admitted to the leadership of the

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

an branch. He was

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

and got married.

Spanish transition to democracy

In 1977 and 1979, he was elected as a member of the

Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

for the PNV in

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

. His talks with

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

paved the way to the

Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country {{Politics of Basque Country (autonomous community) The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko Estatutua; es, Estatuto de Autonomía del País Vasco), widely known as the Statute of Gernika ( eu, Gerni ...

, contributing to its wording. He designed accordingly a strategy for the party along the lines of that Statute, called the ''Spirit of Arriaga''. In 1979, he resigned his seat and succeeded

Carlos Garaikoetxea Carlos Garaikoetxea Urriza (born 2 June 1938) is a former politician from the Spanish Basque Country. He became the second elected ''Lehendakari'' (President of the Basque Autonomous Community), after José Antonio Aguirre, who had held that ...

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 The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...

Later career

Later in the 1980s, Garaikoetxea, the ruling

lehendakari The President of the Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritzako lehendakaria, es, presidente del Gobierno Vasco), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari ( eu, lehendakari, es, lendakari), is the head of government of the Basq ...

, 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 (; en, Basque Solidarity; es, Solidaridad Vasca; french: Solidarité basque) is a Basque nationalist and social-democratic political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means ''Basque Solidarity'' an ...

, led by Garaikoetxea. Arzalluz was the main spokesman for the Basque Nationalist Party, publishing his opinions every Sunday in the Basque newspaper Deia and in many public speeches during PNV rallies, some of which took place on Party Day and on the Day of the Basque Homeland. While liked by PNV voters, he was the least popular party leader among the general Spanish public in 1997. He had a reciprocal admiration for the Italian Christian Democrat leaders Francesco Cossiga and Giulio Andreotti. In spite of his contacts with European Christian Democrats, the PNV had to leave the

Christian Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian D ...

in the 1990s because of pressure from the Spanish conservative People's Party. Besides his political role, he had also been a professor of Constitutional Law (in the Basque language) at the

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

until 1999.

Death

He died in Bilbao on 28 February 2019 aged 86.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arzalluz, Xabier Aralluz, Xabier Basque Nationalist Party politicians 1932 births 2019 deaths University of Zaragoza alumni Members of the constituent Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Basque academics Academic staff of the University of Deusto Leaders of political parties in Spain Former Jesuits Basque Roman Catholic priests Basque Jesuits People from Azkoitia