The former ETA Urtza Alkorta has been elected this Saturday as the new mayor of Ondarroa (Vizcaya) with the absolute majority obtained by her formation, EH Bildu, in the last municipal elections. Alkorta was sentenced in 2013 to five years in prison for a crime of collaboration with ETA. The radical coalition obtained seven councilors in the coastal town, compared to the six of the PNV, with which both formations repeated the result obtained in 2019.
Alkorta has collected the makila of mayoress from her predecessor, Zunbeltz Bedialauneta, —also from EH Bildu and mayor during the two previous legislatures— in a plenary session held in the assembly hall of the old Fishermen's Guild of the town. The event, carried out entirely in Basque, was attended by fifty citizens.
The new mayoress helped a command of the terrorist organization “with some mail, information and accompaniment activities”, for which she traveled to France in January 2008 to receive a training course and on her return she carried out shuttle tasks in a car of another who was transporting explosives. Alkorta was arrested for her admission to prison in May 2013 after an important device by the Ertzaintza. Dozens of supporters of the radicals, including Laura Mintegi, Maribi Ugarteburu and Unai Urruzuno, then leaders of the nationalist left, tried to prevent his arrest in Ondarroa.
The two councilors with blood crimes do not take possession
For their part, the two EH Bildu councilors with blood crimes who were elected on 28-M have not taken possession of their minutes. The first, Begoña Uzkudun, integrated the list of the coalition in Rezil (Guipuzcoa). The mayor has not attended the plenary session of constitution of the consistory, which has started at 11.30. Uzkudun served an 18-year prison sentence for the murder of former Azkoitia councilor José Larrañaga Arenas, on December 31, 1984.
This exetarra was the only one of the seven convicted of blood crimes who was elected in the Basque Country in the municipal elections, since the other who obtained a seat as councilor, Juan Carlos Arriaga, was number 3 by EH Bildu for the Navarrese City Council from Berrioplano.
Arriaga has not taken office in Berrioplano either, where the radical coalition has won the mayoralty. The candidates with blood crimes that appeared on the electoral lists of EH Bildu promised not to take office “to contribute to coexistence and peace” after the group of victims of terrorism Covite denounced their inclusion in the candidacies by EH Bildu.
In the case of Arriaga, he was number three on the EH Bildu list in Berrioplano, which, after the municipal elections on May 28, gave him a seat in this consistory. In the constitutive session that took place this Saturday, Arriaga did not take office and was replaced by Mikel Barrena, fourth on the list.