Vitoria_-_Monumento_a_las_Victimas_de_ETA_01

Gregorio Ordóñez Fenollar (21 July 1958 – 23 January 1995) was a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician in the Basque Country. He was elected to the City Council in

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 1983 and 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 1990. He became deputy mayor of the city in 1991 and was running for mayor in the 1995 election when he was assassinated 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 ...

Biography

Ordóñez was born in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, Venezuela, to Spanish parents who had emigrated in the late 1940s. His paternal grandfather was killed by communists in 1936 during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, and his parents met when his 13-year-old orphan father was moved from

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

Terrateig Terrateig () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida in the Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous com ...

in the

Province of Valencia Valencia ( , ), officially València (), is a provinces of Spain, province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's 2.7 million people (2024), almost one-third live in the capital, Valencia, whic ...

. When he was six, his family moved back to Spain, first to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and then settling in

in the Basque Country. Ordóñez was admitted into

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

during his baccalaureate. After graduating in journalism from the

University of Navarra The University of Navarra is a private Catholic research university located on the southeast border of Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. It was founded in 1952 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of '' Opus Dei'', as a corporat ...

, he began writing for ''Norte Exprés'', a

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

newspaper in San Sebastián, and received threats from

. After his friend's father was murdered by the group in 1982, he joined the

People's Alliance People's Alliance may refer to: * People's Alliance ( ''Volksunie''), Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit * People's Alliance (Bulgaria), a Bulgarian party from 1921 to 1923 * People's Alliance ( ...

(AP) and its New Generations (NNGG) youth sector. In the

1983 Spanish local elections The 1983 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect all 67,505 councillors in the 7,781 municipalities of Spain and all 1,024 seats in 38 Provincial deputation (Spain), provincial deputations. The elections were held simul ...

, Ordóñez was one of three AP members voted onto San Sebastián's city council, the party's first representatives in

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 ...

. In

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, with his party now rebranded as the People's Party (PP), he stood unsuccessfully for 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 ...

in his home constituency, but was elected to the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. In

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, his party was the most voted for the city council, and he became deputy mayor. Ordóñez was running for mayor in the

1995 Spanish local elections The 1995 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect all 65,869 councillors in the 8,067 municipalities of Spain and all 1,034 seats in 38 provincial deputations. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elec ...

when he was fatally shot in the head. His wife since 1990, Ana Iríbar, had given birth to their son Javier months earlier. She set up the Fundación Gregorio Ordóñez in December 1995. His grave at the

Polloe Cemetery The Polloe Cemetery (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Cementerio de Polloe'') is in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Designed by architect José de Goikoa, it was inaugurated in 1878, and the first burial took place on August 12, 1878. Its pantheons ...

has been vandalised several times, and his family have left the region due to intimidation. Assassins Valentín Lasarte and

Francisco Javier García Gaztelu Francisco Javier García Gaztelu (12 February 1966), alias "Txapote", is a Basque separatist terrorist who is responsible for the assassination of several Basque politicians. He is also known by the aliases ''Perretxiko, Jon'', ''Xabier'', and '' ...

were convicted in 2006. The latter, known as "Txapote" and also responsible for killing

Miguel Ángel Blanco Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido (13 May 1968 – 13 July 1997) was a Spanish economist and municipal politician and a member of the People's Party, in Ermua, the Basque Country. He was kidnapped and murdered by the Basque separatist group ETA. ...

and

Fernando Múgica Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, received 30 years in prison and a €500,000 fine to the family of the deceased.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordonez, Gregorio 1958 births 1995 deaths Politicians from Caracas Politicians from San Sebastián Opus Dei members University of Navarra alumni 20th-century Spanish journalists People's Alliance (Spain) politicians People's Party (Spain) politicians Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Members of the 4th Basque Parliament Members of the 5th Basque Parliament People killed by ETA (separatist group) Assassinated councillors