Javier Ybarra Bergé

Who was Javier Ybarra Bergé?

Javier de Ybarra y Bergé was a Basque industrialist, writer, and politician from Bilbao.

Born into a prominent Bilbao family, Javier Ybarra attended the University of Deusto. During the Spanish Second Republic he was affiliated with the Partido Nacionalista Español and then the monarchist Renovación Española party. He fought and was injured in the Civil War. From 1963 to 1969 he served as mayor of Bilbao.

He wrote works related to his experience during the Civil War, history, and politics. He also served as an executive with firms including Babcock & Wilcox, several banks, and the newspaper El Correo.

On May 20, 1977, Javier Ybarra was kidnapped by renegade members of the Basque separatist group ETA, who entered his home in disguise, bound and gagged members of his family, and took him away in an ambulance. Demanding the release of a number of Basque prisoners, his captors later demanded a ransom of one billion pesetas and further prisoner releases. The situation had been complicated by the fact that the group that had kidnapped Ybarra formally renounced their affiliation with the larger ETA organization while holding him and were further disturbed when their leader was arrested in France. The Ybarra family attempted to negotiate with the kidnappers and push back the deadline for payment. The kidnappers failed to respond and on June 20 they announced they had killed Ybarra and sent a map supposedly showing the location of the body. When the Guardia Civil failed to find it, another communication was sent and the body of Javier Ybarra was found near a farmhouse in Navarra. He had been shot in the head and wrapped in a plastic sheet.