Borja Sémper
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Francisco de Borja Sémper Pascual (born 10 January 1976) is a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. He was 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 ...
cities of
Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...
(1995–2010) and
San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
(2019–2020) and a member of the
Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...
(2003–2020), serving as party spokesman in the latter chamber from 2013. A member of the PP from the age of 17 and a target for violence by
ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...
, he left politics in January 2020 to work for
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
, but returned three years later to lead the PP's election campaigns and was elected to the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...
.


Biography

Born in
Irun Irun (, ) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman- Vasconic town. During the Spanish Civil War, ...
,
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) 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 department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
, Basque Country, Sémper joined the People's Party (PP) at the age of 17. He faced at least two assassination attempts from
ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...
due to his activism, one of which failed in 1997 because he missed his class at the
University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...
, where he was studying for a law degree. In the New Generations of the People's Party, he formed a friendship with
Santiago Abascal Santiago Abascal Conde (; born 14 April 1976) is a Spanish politician who has been the Vox (political party)#Presidents, president of Vox since 2015. He has also been the Patriots.eu#President, president of Patriots.eu since 2024, and has been a ...
, who was voted the regional leader of the sector and later became president of Vox. Sémper was voted onto his hometown's council in
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
. He resigned in January 2010, due to conflict with his regional and party political offices. He became a member of the
Basque Parliament The Basque Parliament (Basque language, Basque: ''Eusko Legebiltzarra'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Parlamento Vasco'') is the legislative body of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected ...
in November 2003, leader of the provincial PP in November 2009, and the party spokesman in the Basque Parliament in May 2013. Sémper was selected as the PP candidate for mayor of
San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
in December 2018, after 2015 candidate Miren Albistur decided not to run again. The party occupied three of 27 seats in the city council and faced competition on the right from the growth of
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and Vox. At the presentation of his campaign in February 2019, he made the unorthodox decision to not use any imagery or colours of his party. After the elections in May, he said that his unusual campaign paid off, as the PP had retained its seats in San Sebastián while experiencing losses elsewhere in the Basque Country. In January 2020, Sémper left politics for a position as director of institutional relations at
Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
. He said that he could not cope with the confrontational nature of Spanish politics and wanted a new start for his family. He returned to the PP three years later, being hired by leader
Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies and as president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government o ...
to lead the campaign for the 2023
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and
regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
elections. In the campaign, he expressed discomfort at the unofficial anti-
Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...
slogan "
Let Txapote vote for you "Let Txapote vote for you" (; full version: , "Let Txapote vote for you, Sánchez!") is a List of political slogans, political slogan that is popular among the political right and far-right in Spain during the months prior to the 2023 Spanish gener ...
" as Txapote, real name Francisco Javier García Gaztelu, was one of the ETA members who had threatened his life. He was elected to the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...
as third in the PP list in the Madrid constituency.


Personal life

As of February 2020, Sémper had two sons aged under five with actress Bárbara Goenaga, while each partner had two children from previous relationships.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Semper, Borja 1976 births Living people People from Irun University of the Basque Country alumni People's Party (Spain) politicians Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Members of the 7th Basque Parliament Members of the 8th Basque Parliament Members of the 9th Basque Parliament Members of the 10th Basque Parliament Members of the 11th Basque Parliament Ernst & Young people Members of the 15th Congress of Deputies (Spain)