Javier Ignacio Maroto Aranzabal is a Spanish politician serving as senator from

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

since 24 July 2019 and

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the Popular Group in the Senate since 30 July. He was the Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, from 2011 to 2015, the capital city of the Basque Country and of the province of

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

. At the same time, he served as member of the

Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible. The Parliament mee ...

and in 2016 he was elected

Member of 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 ele ...

until 2019.

Biography

Maroto was born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Basque Country, on 6 January 1972. After completing his studies at the San Viator School in Vitoria-Gasteiz, he studied

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

at the

University of Deusto The University of Deusto ( es, Universidad de Deusto; eu, Deustuko Unibertsitatea) is a Spanish private university owned by the Society of Jesus, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Deusto Business School branch in Madrid. The Un ...

and a master's degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

from

IESE IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958 in Barcelona where its main campus is located,López, T. & Pampliega, J“La fundación del IESE (1956–1958)” Universidad de Navarra, Biblioteca ...

Business School. He is a People's Party politician in the Basque Country. In 1999, he took part in the elections for Mayor of Vitoria. After having been a member of New Generations of Álava and after the victory of the People's Party (PP) in Vitoria, he held the position of

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

and

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 ...

for

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

for the PP from 1999 to 2007. In his two terms under Mayor Alfonso Alonso, he also served as Government Spokesman, president of the municipal company Gilsa, during which he was responsible for the management of industrial land in Vitoria; and Councillor in Charge of

New Technologies Emerging technologies are technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally new but also include older technologies finding new applications. Emerging technologies ar ...

. In 2008 Maroto became the

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the People's Party in Vitoria, and served on the board of the municipal company Widening 21, which was in charge of

urban expansion Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

in Vitoria's new Salburua and Zabalgana areas. He was also the secretary of the People's Party in Álava, and one of the few members of the party who have publicly criticized its position on

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. On November 5, 2010, in an interview with Radio Vitoria, he stated that "it would be a mistake to eliminate the gay marriage bill". On June 23, 2010, Maroto submitted his candidacy for mayor of Vitoria for 2011. He won the election on May 22, 2011, earning a score of 9 seats, and was declared mayor on June 11, 2011. On May 24, 2015, Maroto's party received the most votes and won 9 seats in the local elections of 2015. However, on June 13, 2015, Gorka Urtaran from the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...

was declared mayor after gaining the votes of the councillors of

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu ( en, link=yes, Basque Country Gather or Basque Country Unite) is a left-wing, Basque nationalist, pro-independence political coalition active in the Spanish autonomous communities of Basque Country, Navar ...

, Sumando-Hemen Gaude and Irabazi. On June 18, 2015, he was appointed Sectorial Under-secretary of the People's Party by

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

, becoming a member of the People's Party's national board. He lost his seat in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in the 2019 Spanish general election, but the

Cortes of Castile and León The Cortes of Castile and León (Spanish: ''Cortes de Castilla y León'') is the elected unicameral legislature of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León. The tradition of the regional Cortes is traced back to the Royal Council (Latin: ' ...

designated him as senator on 24 July 2019.

Family life

In June 2015, Maroto announced his engagement to longtime partner José Manuel "Josema" Rodríguez. The wedding was held on 18 September 2015 at Vitoria's city hall. The wedding gained political significance when it was announced that

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, who had challenged the law approving same sex marriage when he was Opposition leader, would be attending the wedding as a guest.

Awards

During the ceremony for the

European Green Capital Award The European Green Capital Award is an award for a European city based on its environmental record. The award was launched on 22 May 2008 and the first award was given to Stockholm for the year 2010. The European Commission has long recognised ...

, passed from one Covenant signatory city to another, on November 29, 2012, Maroto gave the floor to Patrick Rimbert, Mayor of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. Vitoria-Gasteiz was the Green Capital of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 2012, and Nantes was the Green Capital in 2013.

References

External links

Vitoria-Gasteiz's Town Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroto, Javier 1972 births Gay politicians LGBT legislators in Spain Living people Mayors of Vitoria-Gasteiz Members of the 13th Senate of Spain Members of the 14th Senate of Spain People from Vitoria-Gasteiz People's Party (Spain) politicians University of Deusto alumni University of Navarra alumni Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 10th Basque Parliament