Aitor Esteban

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Esteban and the second or maternal family name is Bravo.

Aitor Esteban Bravo (born 21 June 1962) is a Spanish jurist and politician. He is the president of the Basque Nationalist Party since March 2025 and was from 2012 to 2025 the party's Spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies.

Aitor Esteban
President of the Basque Nationalist Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 March 2025
Preceded by	Andoni Ortuzar
Spokesperson of the Basque Group in the Congress of Deputies
In office 18 December 2012 – 29 March 2025
Preceded by	Josu Erkoreka
Succeeded by	María Vaquero
Parliamentary group	Basque Group (EAJ-PNV)
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office 14 April 2004 – 29 March 2025
Constituency	Biscay
Speaker of the General Assembly of Biscay
In office 28 May 1995 – 25 May 2003
Preceded by	Antxon Aurre
Succeeded by	Ana Madariaga
Personal details
Born	Luis Aitor Esteban Bravo[1] (1962-06-21) 21 June 1962 (age 62) Bilbao, Spain
Political party	Basque Nationalist Party
Spouse	Itxaso Atutxa Atutxa
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Deusto
Occupation	Law professor and politician
Website	Personal Twitter

Biography

Esteban's mother is from the Province of Soria and his father is from the Province of Biscay.^[2] Esteban studied in the Corazón de María School of Bilbao and he studied baccalaureate in the Central High School of Bilbao. Later, he studied law in the University of Deusto. He supports the Basque independence but he also considers himself as very pragmatic.^[3]

Esteban holds a PhD in Law from the University of Deusto and has been a professor at the same university of the subjects of Constitutional Law and the Institutional System of the Basque Country, Administrative Law and Indigenous History and Culture of North America and Mesoamerica. He is also an expert in Native American Culture and a scholar of the native legislation.^[4][5]

He is married to Itxaso Atutxa,^[6] a high-ranking member of the Basque Nationalist Party. They have two children.

Political career

Esteban joined the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) at the age of 16 and in 1983 he was appointed Secretary of the youth branch of the PNV. Two years he was appointed representative of the PNV's General Assembly and in 1991 he was appointed Spokesperson and Secretary of the Presidency of the General Assembly of Biscay.^[4] From 1995 to 2003^[7] he was the President (or Speaker) of the General Assembly of Biscay.

Esteban made the leap to national politics in 2004 when he was elected MP to the Congress of Deputies for Biscay in the 2004 general election. He was re-elected in the general elections of 2008, 2011, 2015, 2016, April and November 2019, and 2023. In 2012 he was appointed Spokesperson of the Basque Group in Congress a position he held until March 2025.^[8][9]

In March 2025 Esteban was elected president of the PNV as successor of Andoni Ortuzar.^[1]