Miguel Ángel Blanco

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Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido (13 May 1968 – 13 July 1997) was a local politician in Ermua (Biscay), on the Basque autonomous community (Spain) for the Partido Popular.

On 10 July 1997, Blanco was kidnapped by ETA which threatened to assassinate him unless the Spanish Government transferred all ETA prisoners to prisons in the Basque Country within 48 hours. As soon as the ultimatum expired on 12 July he was shot in the back of the head. His kidnapping and brutal murder caused a huge outpouring of grief in Spain and beyond, after his body was found with his hands tied behind his back and two bullets in his head.

He was actually not found dead, although he was shot twice in the head he managed to live for approximately another 12 hours, but eventually succumbed to his fatal injuries.

[edit] Biography

Miguel Angel Blanco was born on 13rd may, 1968 Ermua (Biscay) into a humble family. He had a sister, María del Mar. His father, Miguel Blanco, was a building worker and his mother, Consuelo Garrido, was a housewife. They were immigrants from Xunqueira do Espadoñedo (Ourense - Galicia).

Miguel Ángel Blanco was licenced in Economics by the Euskal Herriko Unibertistatea on Sarriko (Bilbao). For a long time he worked with his father in construction, but he found work at Eman Consulting, on Eibar, where he commuted every day by train. He also played the drums in the bands Póker and Cañaveral. He was a sports fan and his dream was to walk to Madrid to protest against the possible falling out of the Ermua' sports centre.

He joined Nuevas Generaciones of PP in 1995, and due to it being a relatively small party, he was the third candidate for the municipal elections in this year.

He had a girlfriend, Marimar, and they were engaged to be married in September of 1997.

[edit] Repercussions

His kidnapping and death were very important to the Spanish society. The "Ermua Spirit" was born at this time, and so was an antiterrorist organization. 2006 saw the beginning of the trial of his kidnappers and murderers, Francisco Javier García Gaztelu, "Txapote" and his girlfriend, Irantzu Gallastegi, "Amaia".