José Javier Esparza Abaurrea (born 20 July 1970) is a Spanish politician of the

Navarrese People's Union The Navarrese People's Union ( es, Unión del Pueblo Navarro), abbreviated to UPN, is a regional conservative political party in Navarre, Spain. Until 2008, it was a fraternal party of the People's Party (PP), acting as the latter's Navarrese bran ...

(UPN). He has been president of his party since 2015, the same year that he entered the

Parliament of Navarre The Parliament of Navarre ( Spanish ''Parlamento de Navarra'', Basque ''Nafarroako Parlamentua'') or also known as ''Cortes de Navarra'' (in Spanish) or ''Nafarroako Gorteak'' (in Basque) is the Navarre autonomous unicameral parliament. Functio ...

Biography

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

, Esparza graduated in Pedagogy from the

University of Navarra , image = UNAV.svg , latin_name = Universitas Studiorum Navarrensis , established = 17 October 1952 , type = Private, Roman Catholic , chancellor = Fernando Ocáriz Braña , president = María Iraburu Eliz ...

and has a master's degree in Public Management from the

Public University of Navarre The Public University of Navarre ( eu, Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa; es, Universidad Pública de Navarra) is a public university created in 1987 by the government of the Spanish autonomous region of Navarre ( es, Navarra, Basque: ''Nafarr ...

. He began teaching in a primary school in 1996. From 1999 to 2007, Esparza was mayor of

Agoitz Agoitz, or Spanish Aoiz, is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , nati ...

. For the next four years, he was the managing director of the Navarrese Institute of Sport, then of the Navarrese Employment Service. In June 2012, he was named Minsiter of Rural Development, Environment and Local Administration in the

Government of Navarre Palacio de Navarra., 306x306px The Government of Navarre (Spanish: ''Gobierno de Navarra;'') is the institution of executive nature in which the government of the Chartered Community of Navarre (Spain) is organized. It is led by the President ...

. Esparza became a member of the

(UPN) executive committee in 2013. In November 2014, he received 61% of the votes to lead the party in the

2015 Navarrese regional election The 2015 Navarrese regional election was held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 9th Parliament of Navarre, Parliament of the Chartered Community of Navarre. All 50 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneousl ...

. In those elections, his party was the most voted but lost four seats, losing power for the first time in 19 years. In September 2015, Esparza was elected UPN president with 57% of the votes. He led the

Navarra Suma Navarra Suma ( en, "Sum Navarre", NA+) was an electoral alliance in Navarre formed by Navarrese People's Union (UPN), Citizens (Cs) and the People's Party (PP) ahead of the April 2019 Spanish general election and kept for the May 2019 local and ...

coalition with the People's Party of Navarre and Citizens in the

2019 Navarrese regional election The 2019 Navarrese regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 10th Parliament of Navarre, Parliament of the Chartered Community of Navarre. All 50 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneous ...

, coming first with 20 seats – three more than the sum of its parts four years earlier – but again did not form government. In June 2020, Esparza survived a leadership challenge from the UPN's leader in the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...

, Sergio Sayas (58.2% to 41.8%). In February 2022, he expelled Sayas and the party's only other congressman Carlos García Adanero from the party for disobeying orders and voting against labour reform.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esparza, Javier 1970 births Living people People from Pamplona University of Navarra alumni Navarrese People's Union politicians Mayors of places in Navarre Leaders of political parties in Spain Members of the 9th Parliament of Navarre Members of the 10th Parliament of Navarre