José Atarés Martínez (2 August 1960 – 26 September 2013) was a Spanish People's Party (PP) politician. He was a city councillor (1991–2007) and the mayor of

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

(2000–2003). He was also a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the Zaragoza constituency from 2004 until his death.

Biography

Born in El Vallecillo,

Province of Teruel Teruel ( Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel. It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Z ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, Atarés was the son of a farm manager. His father wanted him to continue the family trade, but instead he became an

estate agent An estate agent is a person or business in the United Kingdom that arranges the selling, renting, or managing of real estate, properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a Letting agent, letting or manag ...

, then graduated in Law from the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain). Founded in 1542, it is one of the List of oldest u ...

. He then opened a law firm. Briefly in the

Socialist Party of Aragon Socialist Party of Aragon (in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Partido Socialista de Aragón'') was a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Aragón, Spain. History PSA was formed in 1976 by the Socialist Alliance of Aragón, me ...

, Atarés joined the PP in the mid-1980s. He was first elected to the city hall in 1991, first in opposition to the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE). In 1995, his party entered government.

Luisa Fernanda Rudi Luisa Fernanda Rudi Úbeda (born 14 December 1950 in Seville) is a Spanish politician currently serving as Senator from Teruel in Aragón since 2015. She served as the 175th president of the Congress of Deputies, being the first woman to hold ...

became mayor and he was first deputy and spokesman. When she left office in April 2000 to become

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies () is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members of the Congress and is, after the king and th ...

, he became the mayor. Two months after Atarés's inauguration, two members of

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 ...

were detained for plotting his assassination. David Pla Marín and Aitor Lorente were jailed for the plot. In the city hall, his party had to form a coalition with the

Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party (, PAR) is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials ''PAR''. The founde ...

(PAR), and lost popularity due to a lack of opposition to some of the PP national government's proposals, such as the National Hydrological Plan and the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. This led to his defeat as mayor in 2003, though he remained on the city council until 2007. In 2004, Atarés unsuccessfully ran for the leadership of Aragon's PP against Gustavo Alcalde. He also served as a

from 2004 until his death. As mayor, he campaigned for Zaragoza to hold

Expo 2008 Expo 2008 was an international exposition held from Saturday 14 June to Sunday 14 September 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain, with the theme of "Water and Sustainable Development". The exposition was placed in a meander of the river Ebro. It was coordin ...

. The exposition was won by the city and held during the mandate of his successor Juan Alberto Belloch, who recognised his role in earning it for the city. Belloch also awarded Atarés, as well as all other democratic mayors of the city whether living or dead, with Zargoza's Gold Medal in 2008. Atarés died of

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

on 26 September 2013, at the age of 53. Zaragoza paid tribute to him with a monument in his honour, near to the Expo 2008 site.The ''Avenida de las Ranillas'' was renamed after him, causing some controversy as locals were not consulted of the change. The street was originally named after frogs, who inspired sculptures and mascots at the Expo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atares, Jose 1960 births 2013 deaths People from the Province of Teruel Politicians from Aragon Mayors of Zaragoza University of Zaragoza alumni People's Party (Spain) politicians Members of the 8th Senate of Spain Members of the 9th Senate of Spain Members of the 10th Senate of Spain Deaths from colorectal cancer in Spain 20th-century Spanish politicians 21st-century Spanish politicians