Irene Villa (born 21 November 1978) is a Spanish author and journalist who became a political figure after losing both legs in an ETA attack in Madrid at the age of 12. She was particularly vocal in her opposition to

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

's policy of offering peace talks to the group if they disarmed. She has since become a

para-alpine skier Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the Internat ...

Personal

Villa grew up and continues to live in Madrid. On 12 October 1991, Villa lost both of her legs and several fingers as a result of a bombing by Basque terrorist group ETA. Her father told the doctors not to do anything and that it would be better to let her die because her injuries were so extensive and her life would be full of suffering. The doctors did not heed his request. Her mother also lost a leg and an arm in the bombing. Following her experience with the attack, she has been active in opposing any government-led negotiations with ETA and the peace process for openly dealing with the group, as proposed by former Spanish President

, describing them as "murderers". She also gave frequent interviews to Spanish magazines, including '' ¡Hola!'' and ''

Telva ''Telva'' is a Spanish language monthly women's magazine published in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest and earliest women's magazines in the country. History and profile ''Telva'' was started in 1963. During its initial phase, the magazin ...

'', before becoming a columnist herself with the Spanish newspaper '' La Razon''. In 2007, Villa became less active in the "fight" against ETA, citing the hostility she felt she was receiving and her desire to devote more time to skiing. One of the people who subjected her and others to hostility, insulting Villa in an online forum, was sentenced to prison for a year and four months, and had to pay a fine of 2,850 € for humiliating victims of terrorism. Villa has a bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Communication from the European University of Madrid. In addition to this, she has also taken courses in psychology, humanities and communication. She earned a scholarship from the Adecco Foundation in 2009. She is married to Juan Pablo Lauro and gave birth to three sons. She has published an autobiography, ''Saber que se puede'', about her life and experiences. In 2012, she participated in the International Day of Life. In 2011 she married the Argentine entrepreneur Juan Pablo Lauro from whom she has three children, Carlos Andrés (born 2012), Pablo Gael (born 2015) and Eric Adriano (born 2016).

Fencing

Before taking up skiing, Villa was involved in wheelchair fencing and in 2006, she participated in the Spanish Cup where she finished second. This was her first introduction to elite disability sport in Spain.

Skiing

Villa is a LW12-2 class paralympic skier, and a member of

Fundación También Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, ...

. This club was the first women's disability ski team created in the country. She trains with

Teresa Silva Teresa Silva is a Spaniards, Spanish Parasports, elite sportswoman with disabilities, founder and president of Fundación También. She has also made a name for herself in disciplines such as skiing and adapted sailing, in which she has been Champ ...

Nathalie Carpanedo Nathalie Carpanedo is a Spanish para-alpine sit skier. Having started in able bodied skiing when she was eight years old, she switched to the para-alpine side in 2002 following an accident. She has been involved with several firsts in women's d ...

Esther Peris Esther Peris (born November 28 1980) is a Spanish paraplegic who has competed in table tennis and para-alpine skiing at the national level. Table tennis Peris is an adaptive table tennis player, and a member of Escuela de Tenis de Mesa Adaptado d ...

, MariLuz del Rio, Sandra Cavallé, and

Alberto Ávila Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Al ...

. Behind the scenes in the sport, she was one of several people trying to open a para-alpine skiing center in Las Leñas, Argentina. in 2010, she attended the National Sports Congress of People with Physical Disabilities where she was a speaker along with other prominent sportswomen with disabilities including Teresa Perales and

. In February 2011, she participated in a Madrid-based event designed to teach students with disabilities in area schools how to ski. The event was organised by Fundación También. She has won the women's sitting group at the Spanish national championships. In 2007, Villa was actively training to make the

2010 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 44 , athletes = 506 , events = 64 in 5 sports , opening = 12 March , closing = 21 March , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Zach Beaumont , stadium = BC Place , winter_pr ...

. She competed in the Spanish national championships that year, the first time they were open to female sit skiers. The Campeonato de Cataluña Open de Esquí Alpino took place in late January 2010 with skiers representing five regions of Spain including Aragon, Galicia, Catalonia, Madrid and the Basque Country. She represented Madrid as a member of the ski club Club for All of Madrid, and finished first in the sitting category. She finished fourth in the Women Giant slalom Sitting at the 2011 Europa Cup final in March in La Molina, but took the gold medal in the women's sitting class for a January 2011 ski race sponsored by

and Santiveri, El Corte Inglés and Cetursa Sierra Nevada. In November 2011 at the first

IPC IPC may refer to: Computing * Infrastructure protection centre or information security operations center * Instructions per cycle or instructions per clock, an aspect of central-processing performance * Inter-process communication, the sharin ...

-sanctioned event of the year which was held in the Netherlands, she had a DNF and eighth-place finish. She missed the 2012 Campeonatos de España de Esquí and other events in the 2011/2012 ski season because she was pregnant. In January 2013, she participated in a five-day training camp with the Equipo de Competición Fundación También de Esquí at

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

References

External links

Irene Villa
Official page {{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Irene Living people Spanish female alpine skiers Spanish para-alpine skiers Spanish female fencers 1978 births Spanish amputees Writers with disabilities Car bomb victims