José Ángel Zubiaur Alegre (1918–2012) was a Spanish right-wing politician. Throughout most of his life he remained active as a Carlist militant and held some positions in the regional Navarrese party executive. In the 1970s he left the movement and contributed to the birth of a Navarrista party, Unión del Pueblo Navarro. His career climaxed during the Cortes term in 1967–1971, when he strove to liberalize the regime and gained nationwide recognition. In 1948–1951 and 1983–1987 he served also in the regional Navarrese self-government.
Family and youth
The Basque Zubiaur family has been traditionally related to sea fare; its members appear in medieval records of the Biscay Consulate of the Sea and already in the mid-16th century Zubiaur was considered a very distinguished name.Manuel Gracia Rivas, En el IV Centenario del fallecimiento de Pedro de Zubiaur, un marino vasco del siglo XVI, [in:] Itsas Memoria. Revista de Estudios Marítimos del País Vasco 5 (2006), p. 158 Some of the family members grew to well known Spanish naval commandersthe best known of them was Pedro de Zubiaur, famous for his numerous victories over the English navy in the late 16th century. For details, see Francisco Javier Zubiaur Carreño, Pedro de Zubiaur. Intrépido marino, militar, corsario y espía, [in:] ZubiaurCarreno service, October 2019, available here and in the early modern era the Zubiaurs were among 10 families most represented in the Bilbao town hall;Mikel Zabala Montoya, El grupo dominante de Bilbao entre los siglos XVI y XVII: bases de poder y estrategias de reproducción a la luz del capitulado de concordia, [in:] Brocar. Cuadernos de Investigacion Historica 26 (2002), p. 56 some held also official positions in the Señorío de Vizcaya.Imanol Merino Malillos, "Verdadero descendiente de mis antiguos señores". El Señorío de Vizcaya y los miembros de la familia Haro en el siglo XVII, [in:] Studia historica. Historia moderna 38/1 (2016), p. 265 The family got very branched;one of its arms settled in Alava. The great-grandfather of José Angel Zubiaur Alegre, Pedro Zubiaur Galíndez (1825–1890), was a native of Llodio, see the Pedro Zubiaur Galíndez entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here in the early 19th century one arm emerged within ranks of the Basque petty bourgeoisie. Its descendant was José Ángel's grandfather, Vicente Zubiaur Unzaga, married in Bilbao to María Salazar Gochi. The couple had 7 children;see Zubiaur Salazar entries at Consulta de Registros Sacramentales (1501–1900), [in:] Archivo Histórico Eclesiástico de Bizkaia service, available here the second oldest one and the oldest son was José Ángel's father, Juan José Zubiaur Salazar (1888–1943).Juan José Zubiaur Salazar entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here He went on with trading business and set up companies on his own; one specialized in sales and maintenance of various tools, accessories and machinery,Arce y Compañia was formed jointly with Martín Millán de Arce Fernández and Luis Vilasau Torra. Its business was purchase, sale, construction and installation of machinery, tools and accessories, with the capital of 100,000 ptas, La Actualidad Financiera 28.03.17, available here another was dealing in import and repair of English automobiles.Ducros and Zubiaur was set up jointly with Jesus Ducros; its business was construction and repair of all kinds of luxury carriages and car bodies, national and foreign commissions and representation; its capital was 25,000 ptas, compare La Accion 28.07.18, available here In 1920–1922 he served as member of the Bilbao ayuntamiento.Joseba Agirreazkuenaga, Gizarte arazoak eta politikagintza Bilbon 1917–1922. Coyuntura social y política, [in:] Bidebarrieta. Anuario de humanidades y ciencias sociales de Bilbao (2000), p. 198
In 1890 Zubiaur Salazar married Teresa Alegre Navascués (1893–1975);she spent her senile years with her only child in Pamplona, José-Ángel Zubiaur Carreño, "El Fuerista. Órgano antiborreguil" (3), [in:] Cabos sueltos y retales de la Historia reciente blog 31.03.17, available here little is known about her family except that she originated from a Navarrese town of San Martín de Unx.she was daughter to Nicanor Alegre Lopez and Eduvigis Navascues Janices, see Agustin Alegre Navascues entry, [in:] Geneaordonez service, available here The couple settled in the very centre of Bilbao;the family house was located in the Santos Juanos parish, Roman Zubiaur entry, [in:] Bizkaitar entzutetsuen galeria, available here ; Jose Angel was baptized in the church of San Vicente de Paúl in Bilbao they had only one child. At an unspecified time, though probably in the late 1920s, Zubiaur Salazar was interned in the psychiatric hospital in Bermeo; in 1926 his wife and son left Bilbao for San Martin de Unx,until 1922 Zubiaur Salazar was recorded as serving in the Bilbao town hall where Jose Ángel passed most of his childhood;Jose Angel first went to school in Colegio de las Madres Carmelitas (Vedrunas) in Bilbao, but has completed education in San Martín de Unx though a Vizcaino by birth, he developed a strong Navarrese identity. In the late 1920s he entered a Marist school in Pamplona,since then his relationship with San Martín de Unx was intermittent; he used to spend some holidays there where he obtained bachillerato during the Republic era.José Angel Zubiaur Alegre, Epilogo, [in:] Eusebio Ferrer Hortet, Maria Teresa Puga Garcia, Los reyes que nunca reinaron, Barcelona 2015, , page unavailable, see here In 1934 Zubiaur enrolled at philosophy and letters at the University of Zaragoza. Outbreak of the Civil War interrupted his academic career; he resumed law studies after the war in Madrid and graduated in philosophy and letters and in law.Don Jose Angel Zubiaur Alegre: un político Carlista, [in:] Navarra Confidencial 25.03.12, available here
In 1947 Zubiaur married María Josefa Carreño Cima (1918–2015).María Josefa Carreño Cima entry, [in:] Geni genealogical service, available here. She originated from Asturias and in the mid-1940s lived in Madrid, yet the couple met in 1943 in Pamplona during a religious feast of Los Luises, Letizia Correa Ruiz, "El secreto es quererse y nada más", [in:] Nuestro Tiempo 666 (2011), available here The couple settled in Pamplonatheir first child was born in Pamplona, see José Ángel Zubiaur Carreño. Director General de Asuntos Europeos y Planificación CV, available here though they used to spend much time in Leitza;Zubiaur's in-laws lived in Leitza they had 7 children, the first one born in 1948. Their marriage endured 65 years; when passing away, Zubiaur had 23 grandchildren.Correa Ruiz 2011, ABC 01.04.16, available here Two of Zubiaur's sons became public figures. The oldest one, José Ángel Zubiaur Carreño, held high administrative and economic offices in the Navarrese self-government and represented Navarre in various central EU bodies;José Ángel Zubiaur Carreño. Director General de Asuntos Europeos y Planificación CV, available here a longtime UPN politician, he left the party in 2013José-Angel Zubiaur Carreño abandona UPN, [in:] Navarra confidencial 19.06.13, available here and assumed more right-wing positions.see e.g. Manifiesto por la historia y la libertad document that protested the Ley de Memoria Histórica praxis, available here; see also his blog Cabos sueltos y retales de la Historia reciente, available here Francisco Javier Zubiaur Carreño held high jobs related to Navarrese culture and is professor in history of art, author of books related to painting, film and museology;Francisco Javier Zubiaur Carreño, Currículum, [in:] Zubiaurcarreno service, available here politically he tends to a more progressist stand.e.g. he supported the idea of turning what used to be the Pamplona Mausoleo a Los Caidos into a museum, Pilar Fernandez Larrea, La memoria histórica no es solo la reciente, también la de siglos pasados, [in:] Diario de Navarra 08.04.17, available here Among other notable relatives,Zubiaur's brother-in-law, Francisco Javier Carreño Cima, gained some recognition in tourist business and education, see Fallece Fco Javier Carreño Cima, [in:] Centro Español de Nuevas Profesiones service 13.08.18, available here Zubiaur's paternal uncle Román Zubiaur Salazar was a fairly popular comic actor, in the early 1920s known as a Basque stage character "Martinchú Perugorría".Roman Zubiaur Salazar was initially the author of costumbrista dramas, played mostly at popular Carlist feasts. However, he gained more popularity in the 1920s as an actor, playing Basque characters in Bilbao and in Madrid; he was the key protagonist in one of the first movies featuring Basque language, Martinchu Perugorría en Día de Romería (1925), Roman Zubiaur entry, [in:] Bizkaitar entzutetsuen galeria, available here , Eduardo Vasco San Miguel, Para una historia de la voz escénica en España [PhD thesis Complutense], Madrid 2017, p. 54
Republic and Civil War
Zubiaur was born to a Carlist family;In memoriam José Ángel Zubiaur Alegre, [in:] Comunión Tradicionalista service 27.03.12, available here his father personally knew the claimant Don Jaime and in the early 1910s he was involved in the Miguelist plot in Portugal.Ferrer Hortet, Puga Garcia 2015 José Ángel adopted the Carlist outlook as a natural way of life,Ferrer Hortet, Puga Garcia 2015 especially that also San Martín de Unx was part of the Carlist Navarrese heartland.San Martin de Unx was home to a Carlist general José Lerga, compare José Mari Esparza Zabalegui, Jose Mari Esparza, Abajo las quintas!: la oposición histórica de Navarra al ejército español, Tafalla 1994, , p. 272; Joaquín Muruzabal, considered the first requeté fallen in the Civil War, originated from San Martin; for the role of Carlism in the town in the 1970s compare also Personajes e historias de San Martin de Unx, [in:] sanmartinunx blog service, available here Already during his early schooling years he was active in Juventudes Jaimistas, a Carlist youth organization;In memoriam José Ángel Zubiaur Alegre, [in:] Comunión Tradicionalista service 27.03.12, available here during the Republican period he grew to executive positions within the organization, though information available is confusing.in some sources Zubiaur is referred to as "president of the jaimista youth", compare Daniel Jesús García Riol, La resistencia tradicionalista a la renovación ideológica del carlismo (1965–1973) [PhD thesis UNED], Madrid 2015, p. 231; "Jaimistas" was the term used widely until 1931, when Zubiaur was 13 years old Later Zubiaur admitted having taken part in Traditionalist Pamplonese feasts, though he remained silent on any organizational commitments of the early 1930s.Ferrer Hortet, Puga Garcia 2015 Following the coup of July 1936 he volunteered to the Carlist militia, the requeté,García Riol 2015, p. 231 and spent almost three years on the front;Zubiaur once confessed that during the Civil War he had spent 3 years "sleeping on the ground and eating sardines ", Correa Ruiz 2011 he served mostly in one of field companies of Radio Requeté,García Riol 2015, p. 231; see also José Javier Nagorne Yárnoz, Recuerdos, [in:] Fundación Ignacio Larramendi service, available here first in Tercio de Navarra and then in Tercio de Lácar.García Riol 2015, p. 231 He survived the Biscay, Santander and Asturias campaigns unharmed, until during the Battle of Teruél he suffered frostbite and had to be treated in the Pamplona hospital.Don Jose Angel Zubiaur Alegre: un político Carlista, [in:] Navarra Confidencial 25.03.2012, available here He finished the wartime career as a sergeant.García Riol 2015, p. 231