FACTS:  

– 2001: Appointed Council member in Astigarraga. He and the representative of PSE-EE, the only two members of their respective parties, face the constant threats from the municipal representatives of the nationalist left.

– 2007: He was elected a member of the Lazcano City Council. Despite being outlawed, because it was considered by the courts to be part of the terrorist organization ETA, the nationalist left participated with absolute freedom in municipal life. Because he denounced this situation he has to put up with the pro-ETA supporters, during all Plenary Sessions, standing behind him with threatening posters; he also suffered attacks, threats and insults.

- April 11, 2009: When travelling from Lazcano to San Sebastián by car, he was followed by another car driven by a person wearing a hood. 

CONSEQUENCES:  

“I started in politics when I was 18, nine years ago. Since then I have been assigned bodyguards. I began my political activity in Astigarraga. It was quite tough there, especially when, after a police operation in the village against Udalbiltza, the PSE-EE council member and I began to receive threats. We also had very tough plenary sessions where they even said “this can be solved with a couple of shots“.

“I’ve been in Lazcano since September 2007. The situation there is very tense because the mayor allows the nationalist left to take part in the sessions. At each session, they stand behind me with threatening posters, insulting me, and have even attacked me when leaving the City Hall. It is very tough.”

“The most terrifying moment I’ve experienced took place on April 11th, 2009. Someone followed me. A car, driven by a hooded person who took photographs of us, followed us from the moment we left Lazcano until we reached San Sebastian and the Ertzaintza (Regional Police) stopped him. Those were very anxious moments, my bodyguards ordered me to lay down on the floor of the car. I was worried they would shoot. Once we finally got to safety and I was able to get out of the car, I fainted from the accumulated tension. Fortunately nothing happened, but the Regional Police confiscated, among other things, a street map of Lazcano indicating the routes I usually used to enter and leave the town. After that I had a very difficult time. I had to leave the Basque Country for a time. I considered giving up and leaving because it was very hard. I thought I was near to death. “

“At family level, this situation mainly affects my mother. She is terrified something will happen to me. As it happened, she called me while they were following me. It is as if she had a sixth sense. With my father it’s different. He lives in barracks and he has survived several attacks.”

“I had a hard time finding a job. People do not want to hire a person who goes around with bodyguards and I understand; it may cause a company lots of trouble. It has taken me three years to get a job. I’ve been lucky that the person who hired me belongs to my political party and understands the situation, otherwise it would have been impossible.”

“It is very difficult to lead a normal life. People are reluctant and avoid you. There are people I used to go out with who have stopped going out with me because they were afraid something would happen to them if they were with me. And also, when I go to places I realise that people look at me as if I were a pariah because I have bodyguards. They look down at you.”

“In the end, in order to feel that I have a bit of a life of my own, I have to escape from the guards. I know it’s wrong, that its stupid, but I’m 27 and I’ve been living like this since I was 18 and I need to be able to go out at times for a meal, for a drink, without bodyguards. The truth is I can’t leave home when I want to; I have no freedom. My life is not normal. Once I accompanied a girl, who did not know what my situation was, home. When I left her, she saw me talking to the bodyguards. The next day she was angry with me for not telling her what I was. But, I shouldn’t have to say anything. I have been through the situation of telling someone who I am and seeing that person turn round and leave. I hope it’s due to fear, not rejection. But this is no way to live, it’s very difficult.”