Euskadi already has a new Government. According to the information to which this newspaper has had access and which has later been confirmed by the Executive, Ibone Bengoetxea will be the first vice-lehendakari and Minister of Culture and Basque, Mikel Torres the second vice-lehendakari, strong man of the PSE-EE and head of Labor and Employment and Bingen Zupiria, who will continue in the position, will jump to direct Security. Only he, Nerea Melgosa and Javier Hurtado repeat.
Dr. Alberto Martínez will assume the Health portfolio and Begoña Pedrosa will direct Education. Likewise, Amaia Barredo, investigated in a court in Vitoria for a complaint from her time as Deputy Minister of the Environment and now a deputy for Álava, will lead Food, Rural Development and Fisheries. The Government also includes the return of former counselor María Jesús San José, who already served under Urkullu and that within the socialist quota she will lead Justice and Human Rights (with Prisons included). The spokesperson will be the PNV’s María Ubarretxena from Guipuzcoa.
It is the largest in democratic history, with fifteen councilors in addition to the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales. There are ten from the PNV and five from the PSE-EE. There are so many that they will not even fit on the bench of the Basque Parliament, which reserves fourteen seats for the Executive. One fact: Iñigo Urkullu started with eight directors and has had 23 in total. All of them will formally take office this Tuesday at the Ajuria Enea palace and immediately afterwards the traditional family photograph will be taken before the first Government Council of the new stage.
The ten councilors of the PNV
Ibone Bengoetxea Otaolea. Born in Bilbao in 1967, she has been a councilor in Bilbao and president of the association of municipalities, Eudel. She was Pradales’ colleague in the Provincial Council and now held a management position in EiTB. She has a degree in Psychology. She is the new first vice president and head of Culture and Basque. “Her political career began in 2003 at the Bilbao City Council, where she has been Councilor for Circulation and Transport, Culture and Education. From 2011 to 2015, she chaired the Association of Basque Municipalities EUDEL. Between 2015 and 2021, she was Regional Deputy for Public Administration and Institutional Relations, where she led areas such as municipal relations, human resources management, digital transformation and open government. “She has a degree in Psychology from the University of Deusto,” indicates her official biography.
Noël d’Anjou Olaizola. Irunés since 1975, he assumes the Treasury portfolio. “He has a solid track record in the financial and banking sector that he began at the Crédit Agricole Indosuez Group as a financial advisor. Since 2014 he has held various roles at Kutxabank, where he has accumulated extensive experience in the management and development of financial services. Since 2023 he has been director of Retail Business Development and since March 2024, he has also been a director at Norbolsa Sociedad de Valores y Bolsa SA”, explains the Government. And he adds: “He has a degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Deusto, an Executive Master in Financial Risk Management from the BME Institute, and an Expert in General Management from Deusto Business School.”
María Ubarretxena. Born in Urretxu in 1980, she will direct Governance, Digital Administration and Self-Government. She has been a senior government official, mayor of Arrasate-Mondrágon and currently a regional deputy in Gipuzkoa. “Her career path begins in private companies in the Marketing and Export departments. Her concern for her cooperative world led her to work professionally at Goizper Group, where her work continued to focus on exports and international activity,” it is said of her.
Mikel Jauregi. A native of Zarautz and born in 1974, he takes on Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability. He has worked abroad. “He has more than 20 years of global experience in the energy sector that has led him to work in the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, Angola and Brazil. He was currently working in the United Kingdom as a manager at Centrica Plc managing electricity generation, hydrogen and renewable optimization projects in various European countries. Between 2020 and 2022, he worked at BP Plc (formerly BP British Petroleum) in the gas and renewables division, leading the integration of the new division and the design of the operating model for growth in offshore wind and hydrogen. Additionally, he has been a member of the board of directors of one of the leading solar energy development companies in Europe and the US (2019-2022). He has a degree in Sociology, with a specialty in Industrial Relations, from the University of Deusto (1997) and a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics,” the Government points out.
Bingen Zupiria. Hernani, 1961. Journalist, has been a senior official at EiTB and director of ‘Deia’. He was responsible for Communication with José Antonio Ardanza and entered the second Urkullu Government as head of Culture. Since 2020 he has been the spokesperson. He now assumes the Security portfolio.
Begoña Pedrosa. Aged 49, she has been the Deputy Minister of Education in this crucial legislature in which the reform of Basque law was approved. She will now lead the portfolio, replacing Jokin Bildarratz, but losing the Universities powers. “She has a doctorate in Applied Linguistics from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), where she obtained the qualification of outstanding cum laude with international mention in 2011. In addition, she has a Master of Arts from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign ( 1999), a Bachelor’s Degree in English Philology from the University of Deusto (1997), an MBA from Mondragon Unibertsitatea (2017), a Diploma of Advanced Studies from the UPV/EHU (2008) and a Certification of Pedagogical Aptitude from the University of Deusto (1997)”, stand out from it.
Alberto Martínez. The doctor is head of the Anesthesia service at the largest Basque hospital, Cruces, and will now lead Health. He was a member of the 2018 opposition panel that is being investigated for allegations of leaks and that precisely had its epicenter in the Anesthesia category. The official note notes the following: “In his professional career, he has been head of the Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Pain Therapy Service at the University Hospital of Cruces from 2002 to the present and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of the UPV -EHU. To date, he has also presided over the Basque-Navarra and Rioja Society of Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Pain Therapeutics (SVNRARTD) and the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Section of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Bilbao (ACMB). He is also a member of the Medical Ethics Commission of the College of Physicians of Bizkaia and on the Board of Directors of the Spanish Society of Anesthesia and Resuscitation (SEDAR).”
Amaia Barredo. She will lead Rural Development, Food and Fisheries. She is a provincial deputy for Álava and has been deputy minister of the Environment. She is currently being investigated for a complaint of prevarication in a court in Vitoria. The Ethics Commission ruled that she could be a senior official at least until, if applicable, the opening of a trial was decreed.
Nerea Melgosa Vega. Born in Vitoria in 1970, she continues for a second term, although now with a smaller portfolio than the previous one. She will be the advisor for Welfare, Youth and Demographic Challenge. Melgosa has been a councilor in Vitoria and a member of the Euzkadi Buru Batzar, always in charge of social areas. In 2023 she joined the Urkullu Government to take charge of the macro-portfolio of Equality, Justice and Social Policies when its owner, Beatriz Artolazabal, to whom she was an advisor, became deputy mayor of Vitoria.
Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias. Born in Salamanca in 1960, he will assume the newly created University, Science and Innovation portfolio. Pérez Iglesias was rector of the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU) between 2004 and 2008. PhD in Biology in 1986, he is a professor of Physiology. He has abundant publications. One of them is signed with the father of one of Pradales’ closest advisors, Pello Salaburu.
The five councilors of the PSE-EE
Mikel Torres Lorenzo. Second vice president and head of Labor and Employment. Torres was born in 1970. He has a degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Finance from the UPV/EHU. He has been mayor of Portugalete since 2008. It is a Biscayan town that is a fiefdom of the PSE-EE. Patxi López is from there and Eneko Andueza resides there, but also Pradales himself. He is also the leader of the Biscayan socialists. He has held other positions associated with his status as councilor, such as that of president of the Bizkaia Transport Consortium. Historically, the PSE-EE has had very relevant people as vice-presidency such as Ramón Jáuregui, Fernando Buesa or, in recent years, Idoia Mendia.
Javier Hurtado Domínguez. Born in Madrid in 1981 and resident in Vitoria, he was the youngest advisor with Urkullu and is now the only one who maintains his functions from four years ago, Tourism, Commerce and Consumption. In Ferraz, he was an advisor to former minister José Blanco. In Euskadi, he was a provincial deputy in Álava for Transport before being recruited for the third Urkullu Government within the socialist quota. At the head of Tourism, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, he dealt with the consequences of the pandemic in their sectors and was a member of the health emergency crisis table, known as Labi. Temporarily, after Mendia left to be an MEP, he also assumed the portfolio of Labor and Employment, a position he has held since April.
Denis Itxaso. Born in Donostia in 1975, he joins the Basque Government for Housing and Urban Agenda after having left his position as delegate of the Pedro Sánchez Government in Euskadi a few weeks ago. He was the first Basque speaker to assume that responsibility. Previously, he had been a lieutenant general in Gipuzkoa, also within a coalition with the PNV. He made his debut in politics as a councilor in Donostia with Odón Elorza, to whom he has always been close.
Susana García Chueca. Donostiarra from 1969 is the new Minister of Sustainable Mobility. She has been a councilor in Gipuzkoa and a councilor in Donostia.
María Jesús San José. Sestaotarra of 1968, she will lead Justice and Human Rights. She is a socialist parliamentarian and was Minister of Labor and Justice from 2016 to 2020.