The Palace of Ajuria Enea (Basque for "My Ajuria") is a building in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

Lehendakari The President of the Basque Government (, ), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari (, ), is the head of government of the Basque Autonomous Community. The lehendakari leads the executive branch of the regional government. T ...

(the President of the

Basque Autonomous Community 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 com ...

). The building, chosen to be official residence on the basis of its architectural merits, was purchased by the

Basque Government The Basque Government (, ; ) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the '' Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years, after a re ...

from its former owner, the Provincial Council of

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, in 1980.Discover the Basque Country - Basque Government - Euskadi.net
That same year it was occupied by Carlos Garaikoetxea, first President of the

after the restoration of democracy in

. The palace, which was built in 1920 by Swiss architect Alfredo Baeschlin and contractor Hilarión San Vicente for local industrialist Serafín Ajuria, displays architectural elements of neo-Basque art on the façade. After being the residence of the Ajuria family, in 1966 it was handed over to the religious order of the Madres Escolapias, who used it as a school. Six years later, in 1972, it was purchased by the Provincial Council of Álava for conversion into a museum of Basque art, and it was open to the public for two years until it became the

's official residence.

External links

Lehendakaritza (Presidency of the Basque Government)

References

{{coord, 42.8408, N, 2.67889, W, source:kolossus-euwiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Vitoria-Gasteiz Palaces in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Buildings and structures completed in 1920 Official residences of subnational executives