Patxi Lazkoz Gasteizko alkate ohia 2009an

Francisco Javier "Patxi" Lazcoz Baigorri (born 30 August 1965) is a Spanish lawyer and former politician of 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 gov ...

(PSOE). He spent his entire political career from 1991 to 2015 as a city councillor in the

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 ...

capital of

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 ...

, serving as party leader from 2003, and mayor from 2007 to 2011.

Biography

Lazcoz was 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 ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

and raised in

in the Basque Country from the age of seven. He graduated in Law from 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 ...

. He married twice, fathering two sons and a daughter. At the age of 22, Lazcoz joined the

Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left The Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left ( eu, Euskadiko Alderdi Sozialista – Euskadiko Ezkerra, es, Partido Socialista de Euskadi – Euskadiko Ezkerra, PSE-EE) is a Social democracy, social-democratic List of political ...

(PSE-EE), the regional branch of the

(PSOE). He was elected to the city hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, serving in the local government under mayor José Ángel Cuerda of 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 ...

(EAJ-PNV). In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, both parties went into opposition as Alfonso Alonso of the People's Party (PP) became mayor, and in 2003 Lazcoz became the Socialist leader in the city hall and ran for mayor, losing to the incumbent. In the 2007 local elections, the PSE-EE received the most votes and Lazcoz was installed as the first Socialist mayor in the city's history. In October 2010, Vitoria-Gasteiz was given 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 ...

for 2012 ahead of more favoured bids such as that of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Lazcoz was defeated in the 2011 election by PP candidate

Javier Maroto Javier Ignacio Maroto Aranzabal is a Spanish politician serving as senator from Castile and León since 24 July 2019 and Spokesperson of the Popular Group in the Senate since 30 July. He was the Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, from 2011 to 2015, the ...

. Among the reasons for his defeat was the planned BAI Center venue, whose budget of €157 million budget was considered excessive in the

Spanish financial crisis Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and was immediately scrapped by Maroto. In October 2014, he confirmed that he would not run in 2015, in order to leave politics to the next generation; he also left his internal roles in the PSE-EE in 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 ...

. In October 2015, he opened a law firm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazcoz, Patxi 1965 births Living people People from Pamplona People from Vitoria-Gasteiz University of Deusto alumni 20th-century Spanish lawyers 21st-century Spanish lawyers Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Mayors of Vitoria-Gasteiz