Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Barrio (August 21, 1960 in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

– January 30, 1998 in Ibid) was a Spanish politician of the People's Party (PP) assassinated by the terrorist organization

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Basque Homeland and Liberty"ETA BASQUE ORGANIZA ...

(ETA) in 1998.

Biography

Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Barrio had a Law and History's Degree. He met his future wife Ascensión at the faculty, where they began their relationship. He was appointed General Secretary of People's Party of Seville in 1983 and Seville’s

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

since 1987. Alberto was also a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, between 1989 and 1990, and he had belonged to Sevilla Club of Fútbol’s Executive. The separatist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna( ETA) assassinated Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Barrio and Ascensión García Ortiz in Seville on January 30, 1998. He was murdered at the age of 37. Ascension, Alberto's wife, worked at a law firm as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

in court. In the time that the murderer was committed, she was 39 years old and had three children; four years old, seven years old and eight years old as result of his marriage to Alberto.

Murder

Alberto Jiménez-Becerril was councillor at the

City Council of Seville The City Council of Seville (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ayuntamiento de Sevilla'') is the top-tier administrative and governing body (''Ayuntamiento (Spain), ayuntamiento'') of the Seville, municipality of Seville, Spain. In terms of political ...

for twelve years. He was elected through the lists of the People's Party, this party held the Mayor's Office with

Soledad Becerril Doña María de la Soledad Becerril y Bustamante, Marquise consort of Salvatierra (born 16 August 1944 in Madrid, Spain) is a Spanish noble, politician and long serving member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies who belongs to the People's Party ...

. He held the positions of Second Lieutenant of the Mayor and Municipal Delegate of the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

. On January 30, 1998 Jiménez-Becerril and his wife, Ascension Garcia Ortiz, a procurator of the Courts of Seville, were killed by an ETA’s member on the street in the Old Town of Seville when they returned to their domicile around one in the morning. He was 37 years old and had three children between the ages of eight to four at the time of this death. His murder caused a great consternation in the city and his funeral was attended by 45,000 people. The funeral was presided by Princess Elena.

Jimenez Becerril Foundation

To perpetuate the memory of the victims, the City Council of Seville promoted the creation of the Anti-Terrorism and Violence Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Foundation which was constituted on December 1999. On March 11, 2014, European Day of the victims of Terrorism, the foundation placed a plaque against terrorism in the bedding of the Plaza of the Incarnation with the phrase of Gandhi, it says: "There is no way for peace, peace is the way." In that same place, an olive tree was planted. On December 28, 2015, they placed another plaque in one of the flowerpots of a square at the crossroads of the street José Laguillo with Arroyo street. The plate has some verses about peace and freedom by the poet Enrique Barrero.

Other awards

The extension of Torneo de Sevilla Street was named after him as Avenida Alberto Jiménez-Becerril. A perpendicular street to the one previously mentioned was named Procurator Ascension Garcia. A stone plaque in memory of the event was placed where the assassination occurred. At the main entrance of Columbus Hall at City Hall, there are two bronze busts of Alberto and Ascension. They also have a tile in their memory on San Jacinto de Triana street.

General

* This article makes use of material translated from the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia. * (in Spanish) Biography of Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Barrio in the ''Anti-Terrorism and Violence Alberto Jiménez-Becerril Foundation'' webpage

References