Amaia Agirre, the Mayor of Getxo, will not be running for re-election in the municipal elections scheduled for May. This decision was communicated to the local executive committee of the PNV party this Monday morning and is expected to be made public in the coming hours.

Agirre made history in 2019 as the first woman to hold the mayoral staff in the town, succeeding the long-serving Imanol Landa. She will leave office after experiencing significant political wear and tear in recent years. A culminating factor has been the Palacete case, a judicial and urban planning investigation into the illegal demolition of a protected building to construct luxury homes, for which three jeltzale councillors and three municipal officials are under investigation for malfeasance and crimes against heritage, all of whom have had to resign.

Although a succession had been anticipated for months, the first official step was taken today during a meeting between representatives of the Bizkai Buru Batzar and the Getxo Interjuntas. The latter is the local governing body of the PNV, representing its three batzokis: Ondarreta, Algorta and Andra Mari. These three assemblies will now be responsible for deciding who will be the jeltzale candidate for the next year.

While digital media have put forward several names in recent weeks, such as Zaloa Campillo, the 'number two' in the government team, and Carlos Sergio Atxotegi, the provincial director of Sports and a recently appointed councillor, the current preferred candidate is Irkus Ansotegi. Ansotegi is a member of the Algorta batzoki and, although he held a testimonial position on the PNV's municipal list in 2023, he comes from a family with significant influence within the party at a local level. A lawyer who runs a management consultancy in Mungia, he is the nephew of Ricardo Ansotegi, former secretary of the EBB, former provincial deputy of Bizkaia, and former jeltzale parliamentarian in Madrid.