Esteban Ezcurra Arraiza (1888–1964) was a Spanish landholder and local public servant. During a few separate strings between 1920 and 1960 he served as mayor of Echauri and in the late 1940s as member of the Navarrese auxiliary advisory body, Consejo Foral Administrativo. In the mid-1930s he took part in Carlist conspiracy and preparations to the July 1936 coup d'état. He is best known as commander of the regional rearguard branch of the Carlist militia requeté, and was active in particular in early months of the Spanish Civil War. In historiography he is counted among chief architects of wartime Nationalist terror in Navarre and is portrayed as the person who managed the Carlist repression network in the region.
Family and youth
The oldest records referring to Ezcurra'sin the press the surname at times appeared as "Escurra", also in relation to Esteban, see e.g. El Cruzado Espanol 08.04.32, available here, or Diario de Navarra 20.12.45 ancestors are related to Tafalla.the oldest records about the Ezcurras are related to Sanesteban in Navarre and refer to late 16th century, but no link between them and the Esteban's ancestors has been established, see Ezcurra entry, [in:] Antzinako service, available here In the 1750s the first representative of the family and the great-great-grandfather of Esteban was noted as born in a nearby town of Barásoain; it is there where the following 3 generations were born.Sebastian Leon Ezcurra Felipe entry, [in:] Geneaordoñez service, available here They formed part of the local hidalguia; the family nest, Casa de Juanzar, was one of major buildings in the town.Casas palaciegas, [in:] Barasoain municipal service, available here The paternal grandfather of Esteban, Pio Juan Manuel Ezcurra Jiménez (born 1807), married Josefa Francisca Felipe Erviti.she was born in nearby Monreal, Josefa Francisca Felipe Erviti, [in:] Geneaordoñez service, available here Their son was the father of Esteban, José Ezcurra Felipe (died 1916).La Acción 19.06.19, available here He was probably among the younger offspring, as he did not inherit the family possessions in Barásoain. Ezcurra Felipe married Teresaaccording to some sources her name was Maria, Pedro José Arraiza Garbalena, De la vida hidalga, [in:] Príncipe de Viana 14 (1953), p. 151 Arraiza López (1845–1910)Arraiza Garbalena 1953, p. 151, also El Eco de Navarra 20.10.10, available here from a family of somewhat higher social status, with representatives noted in history of the region.Arraiza, [in:] Antzinako service, available here Since the late 17th century the Arraizas were related to Ochovi, where they owned a family palace.El Palacio de Ochovi se convertirá en un hotel rural, [in:] Diario de Navarra 01.09.09, available here The maternal grandfather of Esteban, José Fermín Arraiza Illincheta (born 1807), a graduate in law, married a girl who descended from the Mendigañas,María Concepción López Mendigaña (born 1818), see position 18 at Arraiza, [in:] Antzinako service, available here a landed family from Echauri. It was their daughter and Esteban's mother, an etxauritarra, who inherited the estate.her older brother died with no descendants, Arraiza Garbalena 1953, p. 151
Following marriage José Ezcurra and Teresa Arraiza settled in the co-called Casa Mendigaña in Echauri;see Enrique Navascues, Fuentes documentales, [in:] Antizina 2008, p. 41, available here the family became “una de las casas fuerte del pueblo”.Pablo Larraz Andía, Víctor Sierra-Sesumaga (eds.), Requetés. De las trincheras al olvidio, Madrid 2011, ISBN 9788499700465, p. 666 It is not clear how much land they owned. As a terrateniente Ezcurra was among largest taxpayers in the municipality and owned plots in neighboring locations;see 1884 information on his father having been due to pay taxes related to land ownership in Cendea de Olza, Lau-buru 06.06.84, available here he ran the economy on ambitious scale and in the 1880s he presented his wines – though he was probably also growing cattleEl Eco de Navarra 10.04.10, available here – on national fairs.in 1888 he presented “seis botellas de vino tinto seco” in exposition in Barcelona, see brochure from Exposición Universal de Barcelona, p. 224, available here In the 1890s he represented Echauri in talks on a would-be Logroño-Pamplona railway lineJosé Miguel Delgado Idarreta, El ferrocarril Logroño-Pamplona (1889-1927), [in:] Cuadernos de Investigación 8 (1983), p. 157 and was among jurados in the Pamplona juridical district;El Liberal Navarro 25.08.1896, available here in the early 20th century he became juez municipal.El Eco de Navarra 19.10.19, available here It is not clear how many children the couple had; sources point to 7 siblings, yet there is no further information on older brothers.one genealogical site records 6 siblings, Jose Maria (b. 1879), Ynes Francisca (1880), Claudia Luisa (1881), Maria Incarnacion (1883), and two males unknown by name (b. 1884 and 1885), see Family Search database, available here. Esteban is not listed in the database, but names of the ancestors match perfectly, e.g. when compared to Antzinako or Geneaordoñez databases. Some details also in necrological note in El Eco de Navarra 19.10.19, available here. Maria died in 1962, Diario de Navarra 07.10.62
There is close to nothing known about the childhood and youth of Esteban. None of the sources consulted provides information where he received secondary education and whether he pursued an academic career, e.g. in law as was typical for young males of his social standing. In 1906 as an 18-year-old he was first noted in the societé columns of the Pamplonese press.“para Echauri salió ayer el joven don Esteban Ezcurra”, Diario de Navarra 11.12.06 In the early 1910s he started to replace his father as contact person in commercial adverts, related to sale or rent of various agricultural equipment and assets;Diario de Navarra 28.01.13 in 1915, already one year before death of his father, he was referred to as “el propietaro Esteban Ezcurra”.Diario de Navarra 04.11.15 Though in 1924 he was mentioned in newspapers in relation to a “distinguida señorita”,he was reported to have travelled to Barasoain with “distinguida señorita María Baziáin”, Diario de Navarra 23.02.24 he married as late as in 1930. He wed Julia Iñarra LegarragaJesús Aldaba, Joaquín Iraizoz, Oltza 1936, Tafalla 2016, ISBN 9788493882495, p. 221 (1893–1965)Julia Iñarra Legarraga entry, [in:] Geni service, available here from Elizondo,“baztanesa de Elizondo”, José María Jimeno Jurío, Navarra jamás dijo no al Estatuto Vasco, Tafalla 1997, ISBN 9788481360219, p. 124 descendant to a distinguished family and a relative to local Navarrese officials;e.g. her cousin was alcalde of Pamplona, Iñarra Echenique, Fermín, [in:] Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here the Iñarras and the Ezcurras might have been interrelated.she was granddaughter to Pedro Martín Iñarra Ezcurra (1823-1895) The couple had no children.contrary to customs adopted, there are no children mentioned in his necrological notes, see Diario de Navarra 24.03.64, El Pensamiento Navarro 24.03.64. Though both Ezcurra and his wife have been a number of times mentioned on societé columns of Navarrese press, there has been no mention of their children. There is no information (e.g. a would-have-been necrological note) on any child deceased
Early public engagements (until 1931)
Political preferences of the Ezcurra ancestors are not clear. The Arraizas have been traditionally supporting Carlism; Esteban's maternal uncle was related to the Juanmartiñenas, in 1874 awarded title of Conde de Aldaz by the claimant Carlos VII.Conde de Aldaz, [in:] Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia, available here However, there is no evidence of Esteban's Traditionalist endeavors until he reached mid-age. The first information on his public activity – apart from singing in the local Pamplonese choire.g. in 1917 Esteban Ezcurra is mentioned during performance of “una preciosa Ave Maria, la cual el bajo don Esteban Ezcurra nos demostró una vez más patente y bien timbrade voz”, Diario de Navarra 29.04.17, also Fernando Mikelarena, Sin piedad. Limpieza política en Navarra, 1936. Responsables, colaboradores y ejecutores, Tafalla 2015, ISBN 9788476819166, p. 263 - come from the mid-1910s, when in his late 20s he served as vicepresidente of Asociación Neutralista de Navarra, an organisation supporting Spanish neutrality in the Great War; in Spanish conditions it amounted to support of the Central Powers.Diario de Navarra 03.06.17, Mikelarena 2015, p. 262-3, Aldaba, Iraizoz 2016, p. 221 In 1917 he was also recorded in regional Junta Directiva of Asociación de Labradores,Mikelarena 2015, p. 263 an agricultural association dominated by large owners.„organización agraria de signo propietario”, Gloria Sanz Lafuente, La Asociación de Labradores de Zaragoza (1900-1930), [in:] Historia Agraria 25 (2001), p. 157 In 1918, barely aged 30, Ezcurra represented Echauri at Asamblea de Ayuntamientos Navarros; it was a grand meeting of local mayors organized by Diputación Provincial as part of a campaign for so-called reintegración foral, restoration of fueros, abolished in the 19th century.Jimeno Jurío 1997, p. 125
It is not clear whether during the Pamplonese 1918 Asamblea Ezcurra was already the mayor of Echauri; the first confirmed news of him holding the post comes from 1920Diario de Navarra 18.11.20 and in the press the information re-appears also during the following few years,see Diario de Navarra 08.01.22 at least until 1925.Diario de Navarra 03.02.25 In the early 1920s he represented his town in numerous Navarrese initiatives related to reintegración and gained some prestige, e.g. in another Asamblea de Municipios he was among 6 alcaldes who represented the merindad of Pamplona.Mikelarena 2015, p. 263 He joined Sociedad de Estudios Vascos, though it is not clear whether he spoke Basque;though Echauri was in the Basque-speaking part of Navarre until mid-19th century, later the Basque ethnic zone contracted; during Ezcurra's youth the town was predominantly castellano with only older generation speaking Basque as their native tongue apart from membership,Eusko-Ikaskuntza. Sociedad de Estudios Vascos. Memoria de la Sociedad. Estado de Caja. Títulos y cargos. Lista de socios, 1920-1922, San Sebastián 1923, p. 30 there is no trace of his activity in the organisation. His other cultural undertakings was engagement in local fiestas, where he used to perform as a singer,Mikelarena 2015, p. 263, Aldaba, Iraizoz 2016, p. 222 or the 1928 setup of Sociedad Unión Echauritarra, a sport organisation which he presided;Diario de Navarra 16.05.28 its sections were dedicated to pelota, football and cycling.Mikelarena 2015, p. 263