Jaime Mayor Oreja facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jaime Mayor Oreja MP MEP
Minister of the Interior
In office 4 May 1996 – 27 February 2001
Prime Minister	José María Aznar
Preceded by	Juan Alberto Belloch
Succeeded by	Mariano Rajoy
Member of the European Parliament
In office 13 June 2004 – 25 May 2014
Constituency	Spain
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office 3 March 1996 – 24 April 2001
Constituency	Alava
In office 1 April 1979 – 28 October 1982
Constituency	Gipuzkoa
Member of the Basque Parliament
In office 8 June 2001 – 2 July 2004
Constituency	Biscay
In office 18 December 1990 – 29 March 1996
Constituency	Álava
In office 22 March 1984 – 1 October 1986
Constituency	Gipuzkoa
Personal details
Political party	People's Party (1989–present)
Other political affiliations	Union of the Democratic Centre (1977–1983) People's Coalition (1983–1986)

Jaime Mayor Oreja (born 12 July 1951) is a Spanish politician who used to be part of the People's Party. He served as a member of the Basque Parliament, the Spanish Parliament, and the European Parliament. He was also Spain's Minister of the Interior from 1996 to 2000. He is known for his strong views against the terrorist group ETA and for his traditional social beliefs.

Biography

Early Life and Family Roots

Jaime Mayor Oreja was born and grew up in San Sebastián, a city in the Basque Country region of Spain. He went to a school run by the Marianists. He studied to become an agricultural engineer. He also started studying law but left to begin his political career.

His family has a long history in Spanish politics. His grandfather, Marcelino Oreja Elósegui, was a Catholic activist and politician. His uncle, Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, worked in the Spanish government and the European Parliament for many years. It was his uncle who first introduced Jaime to politics.

Starting a Political Career

In 1977, Jaime Mayor Oreja joined a political party called the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). He didn't win a seat in the first democratic elections after Francisco Franco's rule. However, he was elected in 1979 with the UCD.

Soon after, he became the Spanish government's representative to the Basque Government. He also helped write the rules for the Basque Country's self-governance. He worked as a minister for tourism in the Basque General Council, which was the first version of the Basque Parliament.

He left the Spanish Parliament in 1982 when another party, the Socialist Party, won most of the seats. He stayed as the government's representative in the Basque Country until 1983, when the UCD party started to break apart. He then joined a group called the People's Coalition. In 1984, he ran to be the leader of the Basque Country, known as lehendakari. After some political changes, he decided to step away from politics in 1986.

Returning to Politics

In 1989, Manuel Fraga asked Mayor Oreja to come back to politics. He joined the new People's Party (PP). He was the party's candidate in the Basque elections in 1990. He also helped with the European Parliament elections in 1989. In 1994, the People's Party almost doubled the number of seats it had.

Serving as Minister of the Interior

When José María Aznar became Prime Minister after the 1996 Spanish Parliamentary Elections, Mayor Oreja was chosen to be the Minister of the Interior. This job meant he was in charge of national security and police.

One of his biggest challenges was dealing with ETA, a terrorist group that used violence. In 1998, ETA announced a ceasefire, meaning they would stop fighting. However, Mayor Oreja believed this was a trick. He famously called it a "trap truce" (tregua-trampa). He clearly stated that he would not negotiate with ETA. His firm stand against terrorism was very popular among many Spanish people.

Basque Election and European Parliament Role

Being Minister of the Interior was the peak of Mayor Oreja's influence. In 2001, his party chose him to run for the Basque regional presidency. He resigned as Minister to focus on this campaign.

The 2001 Basque elections happened after ETA's ceasefire ended. Mayor Oreja campaigned strongly, defending the Spanish Constitution and the Basque region's self-governance rules as ways to defeat ETA. He also criticized the ruling Basque Nationalist Party. Even though he didn't win enough votes to become the leader, his party did improve its results. However, the current leader, Juan José Ibarretxe, was re-elected.

Mayor Oreja remained the leader of the opposition in the Basque Country until 2004. During this time, he sometimes missed important votes in the Basque parliament.

In 2004, some people thought he might become the next Spanish prime minister after José María Aznar. But Aznar chose Mariano Rajoy instead. Soon after, Mayor Oreja left his seat in the Basque parliament. He then ran for a seat in the European Parliament in the elections that year and won. For the next ten years, he held important positions in the European Parliament's main political group.

After some disagreements with his party's leaders, Mayor Oreja decided not to run for the European Parliament again in 2014. He mostly stepped away from public life. Since then, he has led a foundation called Fundación Valores y Sociedad. This group works to promote traditional values.

See also

In Spanish: Jaime Mayor Oreja para niños