Francisco Javier Pradera Gortázar (28 April 1934 – 20 November 2011) was a Spanish anti-Franco

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

political analyst Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. Pradera was a journalist and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

for ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'', based in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Pradera worked as an editorial writer at ''El País'' from 1976 to 1986. His first piece for ''El País'' was published on 16 May 1976. He remained an ''El País'' columnist and editorial board member from 1986 until his death in 2011. Outside of ''El País'', Pradera worked as the director of the publishing firm, Alianza Editorial, and founded the publishing house, Siglo XXI. Pradera was born on 28 April 1934 in San Sebastián,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

. His grandfather, Víctor Pradera Larumbe, a politician who founded the Bloque Nacional, now a defunct conservative party, was killed by anarchists in 1936. His father, Javier Pradera, was also assassinated just one day after his grandfather. Pradera completed his law degree as a

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

Complutense University The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. He found work within the legal department of the Franco's era

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

. However, Pradera was arrested in February 1956 for taking part in anti-Franco university protests, which cost him his job. Pradera turned from his family's politically conservative traditions and joined the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain ( es, Partido Comunista de España; PCE) is a Marxist-Leninist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is part of Unidas Podemos. It currently has two of its politicians serving as ...

, which was banned during the Franco era. However, he left the part in 1964 following the expulsions of

Jorge Semprún Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clande ...

and Fernando Claudín in a party purge. Pradera and

Fernando Savater Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín (born 21 June 1947 at Basque city of San Sebastián) is a Spanish philosopher, essayist and author. Early years and career Born in San Sebastián, he was an Ethics professor at the University of the Basque ...

, a

Basque 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 co ...

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, co-founded the ''Claves de Razón Práctica'' magazine in 1990. Javier Pradera died on 20 November 2011 at the age of 77. His last column for ''El País'' was published on the same day as his death. The piece, which he titled ''Al borde del abismo'' (''On the brink of the abyss''), warned against a potential

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

for Spain if the

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worsened.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradera, Javier 1934 births 2011 deaths Spanish journalists Spanish activists Spanish publishers (people) Spanish columnists El País columnists