Urkullu, head of the Basque government for twelve years

Iñigo Urkullu (1961, Alonsotegi) leaves behind three terms and twelve years at the head of the Basque government. Dialogue, the ability to reach agreements, self-governance and economic recovery have been some of the focuses of his three mandates.

He arrived at Ajuria Enea at a unique moment for the PNV, as this meant reclaiming the lehendakaritza after three years of PSE-EE-PP government with Patxi López leading the way. At the head of the Jeltzales plates, Urkullu took over from Juan Mari Ibarretxe.

In that first term (2012-2016), Iñigo Urkullu had to lead the post-ETA era and the blows of the strong economic crisis of 2008, among many other issues. Initially, he had to face the mandate alone. He failed to implement the 2013 budgets, but thanks to a first pact with Patxi López’s PSE-EE, after years of disagreements with the Socialists, he achieved enough stability to serve a first term. with 34 approved laws.

Re-elected Lehendakari in 2016, reached a coalition agreement with the PSE-EE of Idoia Mendia. They governed as a minority, but thanks to specific agreements with all parties represented in the Basque Parliament, they managed to complete this. And during his three terms in office dialogue and agreement with different shapes one of its cornerstones.

The end of this second term was abrupt for the Lehendakari. He had to manage the collapse of the Zaldibar landfill, and a few weeks later he had to cope the largest pandemic in recent decades. Iñigo Urkullu was the first regional leader to declare a health emergency.

In the middle of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020, sworn in for the third time, with a complex goal: to make progress in a Basque economy suffering from the consequences of the pandemic. During this third term, Urkullu also had to endure the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis or the labor conflicts in Osakidetza and the Ertzaintza. On this occasion, the PNV-PSE-EE pact has allowed him to govern with an absolute majority, although he has not given up dialogue and pacts with all parties except Vox.

Self-government, dialogue and new powers

During this twelve-year journey, self-government has been one of the most important pillars of its actions. He has campaigned for a new status and a plebiscite, and on numerous occasions he has had to demand that Spanish governments comply with the Statute of Gernika.

In recent years, the Basque executive has acquired and expanded eleven new powers in this area Economic agreement and renewed the Quota law.

In the era of Mariano Rajoy, with whom he met numerous times, the relationship stagnated, mainly due to the appeals filed by the Spanish government against various laws approved in Euskadi. At Rajoy there was none no transfer of powers. With Pedro Sánchez, on the other hand, the relationship has been more fluid, and it has worked eleven new skills in just five years (including prisons), although the Lehendakari have complained more than once about non-compliance with what was discussed with Moncloa.

The process

Urkullu, a staunch defender of self-government, has always rejected promoting it unilaterally. In this sense the Lehendakari mediated between Mariano Rajoy and Carlos Puigdemont during the trial, which led to the Lehendakari having to testify as a witness before the Supreme Court, which cooled his relationship with the then President.

The numbers

Despite the constant economic crises he has had to endure over the past twelve years, his management has succeeded reduce unemployment to less than half established in 2012 (from 16.3% to 7.5%), GDP and the number of exports have increased and public investments exceed 2 billion euros for the first time.

Your private life

Seriousness, accuracy and discretion are part of the character of Iñigo Urkullu, a politician who is very jealous of his private life. Married and with three children, decided not to settle in Ajuria Enea to live with his family in Durango (he is the first lehendakari to do so). He loves music and plays txistu. He does not drink alcohol and valued the priesthood. He was a central defender for Larramendi, and his wife’s father, Eneko Arieta-Araunabeña, was a striker for Athletic.

He entered politics when he was very young. In 1977 he joined EGI (PNV youth)., and in just three years he was already leading the organization. He held his first meeting in 1983, in Aixerrota, before 150,000 people, and his first public position was as Director of Youth in the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. At just 29 years old, he became president of Bizkaia Buru Batzar, and seven years later replaced Josu Jon Imaz as president of the EBB.