Iker Jiménez Elizari (born 10 January 1973) is a Spanish

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and television host. He is a graduate in sciences of information from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

and the

European University of Madrid The European University () is a private university in Spain with campuses in Madrid, Valencia, and the Canary Islands. The university ranked 1,001–1,200th in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, joint 1,635th in the 202 ...

, and gained prominence directing and presenting, along with his wife and collaborator Carmen Porter, mystery investigation program ''Milenio 3'' in

Cadena SER La Cadena SER (the SER Network) is a Spanish radio network established in 1924, with a regular listenership of 4,139,000 reported in 2018. The acronym SER stands for Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión (Spanish Broadcasting Company). Cadena SE ...

, after which they moved to television with the program ''

Cuarto Milenio ''Cuarto milenio'' is a Spanish television program directed and presented by journalist Iker Jiménez and Carmen Porter. The program has been broadcast weekly on television channel Cuatro since November 2005, being the channel's longest running ...

'' in

Cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

. In 2020 he created the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

''La Estirpe de los Libres'', and the same year started presenting the divulgation program '' Horizonte'', initially in

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

and later in Cuatro. For his work in ''Milenio 3'' and ''Cuarto Milenio'' eminently, Jiménez has been called by several newspapers one of the premier communicators in Spanish media, as well as one of the most parodied and criticized. While he has been accused on occasions of promoting

trash TV A tabloid talk show is a subgenre of the talk show genre that emphasizes controversial and sensationalistic topical subject matter. The subgenre originated in the United States and achieved peak viewership from the mid-1980s through the end of th ...

, he has also been profusely awarded for journalistic and communicative merits, having three Antenas de Oro and one

Premio Ondas The Premios Ondas (Spanish: literally "wave awards", also known in English as the Ondas Awards or simply The Ondas) have been given since 1954 by Radio Barcelona, a subsidiary of Cadena SER, in recognition of professionals in the fields of radio ...

on his resume along with several other awards.

Biography

He was born in

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória ( ...

, and has a bachelor's degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from both the

Universidad Complutense de Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

and the

Universidad Europea de Madrid The European University () is a private university in Spain with campuses in Madrid, Valencia, and the Canary Islands. The university ranked 1,001–1,200th in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, joint 1,635th in the 202 ...

. He is married to Carmen Porter, also a journalist and team member of both Milenio 3 and Cuarto Milenio. His first daughter, Alma Jiménez Porter, was born in 2011.

Career

He has been the presenter of

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

programs on radio and publisher of many articles about

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

activity. He started in 1990 on small radio stations in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

until he went to some of the most important Spanish radio stations: Onda Madrid,

Radio Voz Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

Radio Intercontinental Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

, Antena 3,

Onda Cero Onda Cero is a Spanish national generalist radio station, a part of Atresmedia media group. It is Spain's third-largest radio station by number of listeners as of 2024. Among its programs are ''Más de Uno,'' ''Julia en la Onda,'' ''La Brújula ...

and

Radio Nacional de España Radio Nacional de España (acronym RNE, branded rne, "National Radio of Spain") is the national Government-owned corporation, state-owned public service broadcasting, public service radio broadcaster in Spain. RNE is the radio division and T ...

. He has also worked in TV programs for

, Antena 3 or Cuatro TV. He founded the CD-Rom magazine, CD Magazine and wrote some articles for several publications. He has been the presenter and director of the radio program ''Milenio 3'' in

. Milenio 3 was the leader program in the Saturday late night Spanish radio and also in other schedules in which it was previously broadcast. Milenio 3 came to an end on 28 June 2015, after 14 seasons on air. He currently presents the television program ''Cuarto Milenio'' (''Fourth Millennium''). Started in 2006, Cuarto Milenio is the most popular program of the Spanish channel

and the oldest of the programs broadcast by Cuatro. He also started a self-produced live show in

in 2018, ''Milenio Live''. He finished the show in September 2021 in order to focus on other projects, leaving his activity in YouTube to his secondary podcast ''La Estirpe de los Libres''.

Political views

When asked about his ideology in 2015, Jiménez stated, "yes, I'm an

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

, like

Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente Félix Samuel Rodríguez de la Fuente (March 14, 1928 – March 14, 1980) was a Spanish naturalist and broadcaster. He is best known for the highly successful and influential TV series, '' El Hombre y la Tierra'' (1974–1980). A graduate in m ...

. I'm not saying this in a political sense. I consider myself liberal in everything." He also described himself as believing on individual merit over

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

parasitism Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

. In 2020, he stated further, "I belong to nobody, I'm not a member of any

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, any

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

or any

trend A fad, trend, or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation, or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short time period. Fads are objects or behaviors th ...

, in fact I can see positive things in both sides." Similarly, he felt himself targeted by both the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

and

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

for his mediatic role during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in Spain. In an article published in 2020, journalist Antonio Maestre accused Jiménez of being an "

anti-Marxist Criticism of Marxism has come from various political ideologies, campaigns and academic disciplines. This includes general intellectual criticism about dogmatism, a lack of internal consistency, criticism related to materialism (both philosoph ...

" and having become a "guru to the far right in Spain" through his work while embracing a "deideologized" profile as TV host. Jiménez answered enumerating inaccuracies in Maestre's article, while the resultant controversy saw Maestre both being supported and attracting his own critiques, including from other journalists. Also in 2020, Jiménez stated that, due to his work in ''Horizonte'' about the COVID-19 pandemic, he had been attacked in social media by pandemic conspiracy theorists, some of them being former followers of his. He replied to those views, stating, "I must have done something wrong for many years. Firstly so as not to be believed. To be thought a traitor. Secondly so as not to know how make understand that this is not a joke and that unfortunately the pandemic is real and quite uncontrollable." He later further criticized them, describing them as "the greatest blunder ever".

Works

In 1999 he wrote ''Enigmas sin resolver''. He is also the author of ''El paraíso maldito'' (2000), ''Enigmas sin Resolver II'' (2000), ''Camposanto'' (2005) based on

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

's life, ''Fronteras de lo imposible'', ''Encuentro'' and ''Milenio 3: El libro'' (2006).

Notable television works

*''La noche del fin del mundo'' (director of that documentary about the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

) *''El Síndrome'' (documentary about the 1981 toxic oil syndrome)

Professional activity

Radio

* ''Milenio 3'' (2002-2015),

. * ''Universo Iker'' (2015-presente), Radioset.

Television

* ''

'' (2005–present),

. * ''Cuarto Milenio Zoom'' (2016-2017), Cuatro. * '' Horizonte'' (2020–present),

and later Cuatro.

Internet

* ''Milenio Live'' (2018-2021),

and Mtmad. * ''La Estirpe de los Libres'' (2020–present),

Awards

In 2004, Jiménez was awarded the Antena de Oro, given by the Federation of Radio and Television Associations of Spain to the most outstanding professionals in the field of the audiovisual industry, for his radio program ''Milenio 3''. Also in 2004, he was given the Award to the Best Journalist by the Association of Victims of

11-M The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's ...

. Two years later, Jiménez was voted Televisive Personality of the Year with 43,5% of the voting in

Grupo Vocento Vocento, S.A., also known as Grupo Vocento, is a Spanish mass media group. Its flagship daily newspaper is the conservative and monarchist ''ABC'', also publishing '' El Correo''. Vocento was created in 2001 upon the merger of Grupo Correo with ...

, the leading multimedia communications group in Spain. In 2007 and 2008, he was respectively awarded the 10th Trufa de Oro, granted by the union of radio broadcasting stations of

, and the Arias Montano Communication Award, also given to his collaborators Carmen Porter and Javier Sierra. 2010 saw Jiménez being handed the Insignia de Plata by the Spanish Society of

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and Forensic Sciences (SECCIF), along with Feliciano Trebolle, president of the Provincial Audience of

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. Jiménez won again the Antena de Oro for his work in ''Cuarto Milenio'' in 2015, the same year he was also awarded with the

for "his work as presenter, communicator and director". After three years, he would receive the Medal of Professional Merit in the Congress of Applied Criminalistics I in

Noia Noia () is a town and municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of the comarca with the same name. It has a population of 14,947 inhabitants (2010),Rare Diseases A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, the term orphan disease describes a rare disease whose rarity results in little or no funding or research for treatments, without financ ...

by the

Hospital Clínico San Carlos The Hospital Clínico San Carlos is a hospital located at the Ciudad Universitaria neighborhood in Madrid, Spain, part of hospital network of the Servicio Madrileño de Salud (SERMAS). It is one of the healthcare institutions associated to the C ...

of Madrid. In 2019, he was awarded the Gran Cruz de las Víctimas del Terrorismo, by the Historical Association of the Civil Guard, for his work in ''Cuarto Milenio''. The following year, Jiménez was gifted a Medal of Police Merit by Jesús Montero from the

National Police Corps The National Police Corps (, CNP; ; also known simply as the National Police, ) is the national civilian police, police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst rural policing is generally the responsibil ...

by his communicative work during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

. He was also awarded the Independent Award of Communication and Television by the Unión por Leganés. Also for his work in the pandemic, Jiménez received in 2021 the Honor Award to the Best TV and Radio Communicator by Fundación Gala. ''Horizonte'' would earn him the Gran Cruz a la Solidaridad COVID-19 of the Civil Guard and Jiménez's third Antena de Oro, coinciding with him winning the Arturo Duperier Award also in 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Iker 1973 births Living people Ufologists Complutense University of Madrid alumni Spanish television presenters Spanish male journalists Spanish male bloggers Spanish male essayists Spanish video bloggers Paranormal investigators People from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish conspiracy theorists Spanish radio journalists Basque journalists 20th-century Spanish journalists 21st-century Spanish journalists