José Atarés Martínez (2 August 1960 – 26 September 2013) was a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. He was a city councillor (1991–2007) and the mayor of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

(2000–2003). He was also a senator representing the

Province of Zaragoza Zaragoza (), also called Saragossa in English,''Encyclopædia Britannica''Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)/ref> is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also t ...

from 2004 until his death.

Biography

Born in El Vallecillo,

Province of Teruel Teruel (Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel. It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Za ...

, Aragon, Atarés was the son of a farm manager. His father wanted him to continue the family trade, but instead he became an

estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged ...

, then graduated in Law from the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon, Spain. Founded in 1542, it is one of the oldest universiti ...

. He then opened a law firm. Briefly in the

Socialist Party of Aragon Socialist Party of Aragon (in Spanish: ''Partido Socialista de Aragón'') was a democratic socialist political party in Aragón, Spain. History PSA was formed in 1976 by the Socialist Alliance of Aragón, members of the magazine and cultural group ...

, Atarés joined the PP in the mid-1980s. He was first elected to the city hall in 1991, first in opposition to the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

(PSOE). In 1995, his party entered government.

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Luisa Fernanda Rudi Úbeda (born 14 December 1950) is a Spanish politician currently serving as Senator from Aragón since 2015. She served as the 175th president of the Congress of Deputies, being the first woman to hold the position in Spanis ...

became mayor and he was first deputy and spokesman. When she left office in April 2000 to become

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies ( es, Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados) is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members o ...

, he became the mayor. Two months after Atarés's inauguration, two members of

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

were detained for plotting his assassination. David Pla Marín and Aitor Lorente were jailed for the plot. In the city hall, his party had to form a coalition with the

Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party ( es, Partido Aragonés, PAR) is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initi ...

(PAR), and lost popularity due to a lack of opposition to some of the PP national government's proposals, such as the National Hydrological Plan and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

. This led to his defeat as mayor in 2003, though he remained on the city council until 2007. In 2004, Atarés unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of Aragon's PP against Gustavo Alcalde. He also served as a senator from 2004 until his death. As mayor, he campaigned for Zaragoza to hold

Expo 2008 Expo 2008 was an international exposition held in the year 2008 from 14 June (Saturday) to 14 September (Sunday) in Zaragoza, Spain, with the theme of "Water and Sustainable Development". The exposition was placed in a meander of the river Ebro. ...

. The exposition was won by the city and held during the mandate of his successor

Juan Alberto Belloch Juan Alberto Belloch (born 1950) is a Spanish judge and socialist politician, who served in different cabinet posts. He served as the mayor of Zaragoza between June 2003 and 13 June 2015. Early life and education Belloch was born in Mora de Ru ...

, who recognised his role in earning it for the city. Belloch also awarded Atarés, as well as all other democratic mayors of the city whether living or dead, with Zargoza's Gold Medal in 2008. Atarés died of colorectal cancer on 26 September 2013, at the age of 53. Zaragoza paid tribute to him with a monument in his honour, near to the Expo 2008 site.The ''Avenida de las Ranillas'' was renamed after him, causing some controversy as locals were not consulted of the change. The street was originally named after frogs, who inspired sculptures and mascots at the Expo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atares, Jose category:1960 births 2013 deaths People from the Province of Teruel Politicians from Aragon Mayors of Zaragoza University of Zaragoza alumni People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the 8th Senate of Spain Members of the 9th Senate of Spain Members of the 10th Senate of Spain Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Spain 20th-century Spanish politicians 21st-century Spanish politicians