Xabier Agirre

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Agirre and the second or maternal family name is López.

Xabier Agirre López (8 April 1951 – 13 February 2021), was a Spanish administrator and politician.^[3] A member of the Basque Nationalist Party, he held important institutional positions both in the Foral Deputation of Álava [es] and in the Basque Parliament. He served as Deputy General of Álava from 2007 to 2011 and president of Araba Buru Batzar [es] (the governing organ of the Basque Nationalist Party in Álava) from 1983 to 1987 and from 2012 to 2016.

Xabier Agirre
Xabier Agirre in 2010
Deputy General of Álava
In office 27 July 2007 – 7 July 2011
Preceded by	Ramón Rabanera [es]
Succeeded by	Javier de Andrés
Member of the General Assembly of Álava^[1]
In office 20 June 2007 – 2 January 2012
Constituency	Vitoria-Gasteiz
In office 19 July 1999 – 1 April 2003
Constituency	Vitoria-Gasteiz
In office 3 July 1987 – 18 September 1989
Member of the Basque Parliament^[2]
In office 20 November 2012 – 2 August 2016
Constituency	Álava
In office 4 October 2005 – 21 September 2007
Constituency	Álava
In office 1 April 2004 – 22 February 2005
Constituency	Álava
Personal details
Born	Francisco Javier Aguirre López (1951-08-04)4 August 1951 Vitoria, Spain
Died	13 February 2021(2021-02-13) (aged 69) Pamplona, Spain
Political party	EAJ/PNV

Biography

Xabier Agirre was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1951. He worked in a local savings bank before entering politics. He joined the Basque Nationalist Party in the 1970s, being the head of the Álava branch from 1983 to 1987. That year he was elected to the General Assembly of Álava, in which he served until 1989. From 1990 to 1999, he served as deputy head of the Interior Department of the Basque Government under Juan María Atutxa.^[4]

He was the leading candidate of the Basque Nationalist Party in the 2007 election in Álava. Despite his party finishing third,^[5] he was unexpectedly elected Deputy General^[6] with the support of Eusko Alkartasuna due to the lack of an agreement between the Socialist Party and the People's Party.^[7][4] In late 2009, a corruption scandal broke out involving Alfredo de Miguel, a member of his government.^[8] Despite the local party organs having access to the case summary once it was made public, he didn't gain access to it, which strained the relation between the local party leadership and him.^[9]

His party finished second in the 2011 election, behind the People's Party. Despite having the support from Bildu, the abstention of Ezker Batua in the investiture vote meant that the PP-PSE-EE alliance had more votes, and thus Javier de Andrés was elected his successor.^[10] According to Agirre, Ezker Batua had demanded the naming of party members to public positions in exchange for their support.^[11]

From 2012 to 2016 he served as a member of the Basque Parliament and as head of the party in Álava.^[12] He died in Pamplona in 2021, aged 69.^[13][14]

References

1. "AGUIRRE LÓPEZ, FRANCISCO JAVIER". www.jjggalava.eus (in Spanish). Juntas Generales de Álava. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
2. "Agirre López, Xabier". Parlamento Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
3. Izarra, Josean (13 February 2021). "Fallece el ex diputado general de Álava y presidente del PNV Xabier Agirre a los 69 años de edad". El Mundo (in Spanish). Vitoria-Gasteiz. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
4. Martín, Marta (13 February 2021). "Fallece en Pamplona el histórico dirigente del PNV Xabier Agirre". Noticias de Navarra (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
5. Gorospe, Pedro (31 May 2007). "El escrutino final mantiene a los populares como primera fuerza alavesa". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
6. "Xabier Agirre, exdiputado general". El Correo (in Spanish). 30 December 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
7. Zabaleta, María (15 May 2011). "Bailando con el PNV". El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
8. Rioja Andueza, Iker (19 December 2021). "Dos años desde la sentencia del 'caso De Miguel' y sin noticias del Supremo". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
9. Llorente, Adolfo (3 June 2010). "Xabier Agirre no conoce el sumario del 'caso De Miguel' pese a que su partido lo tiene". El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
10. Abaitua, Alberto (8 July 2011). "PP y PSE encumbran a Javier De Andrés como diputado general tras consumarse la 'madrazada' en Ezker Batua". Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
11. Llorente, Adolfo (8 July 2011). "Agirre acusa a EB de exigir 43 puestos y un crédito de 600.000 euros por su apoyo". El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
12. Izarra, Josean (27 December 2015). "El polvorín del PNV alavés". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
13. Rioja Andueza, Iker (13 February 2021). "Fallece el histórico del PNV alavés Xabier Agirre, al que su partido despide como un "referente ético"". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.
14. Gatón, Natxo (13 February 2021). "Muere el ex diputado general de Álava Xabier Agirre". GasteizHoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022.