Bakartxo Tejeria Otermin

Bakartxo Tejeria Otermin (born 28 March 1971) is a Basque politician serving as speaker or President of the Basque Parliament since 2012. She is the third woman to hold the position, as well as the longest serving speaker. Tejeria has been a Member of the Basque Parliament for Gipuzkoa since 2001. She is affiliated with the Basque National Party.

Life and career Bakartxo Tejeria Otermin was born in San Sebastian (Gipuzkoa) and spent a brief time in Larraul but moved while still a child to Villabona (Gipuzkoa).

A law graduate of the University of the Basque Country, She was re-elected after the 2016 election and the 2020 election, which made Tejeria the first speaker to serve for three terms. She was re-elected after the 2024 election to serve for a fourth term. Tejeria is also the longest serving member of parliament during the current parliamentary term.

Tejeria belongs to the social democrat and the pro-independence section of her party. She supports a new constitutional arrangement for the Basque Country and has participated in demonstrations defending the Basque Country's right to choose its own future. She has also opposed the incarceration of pro-independence Catalan politicians amid the 2017 constitutional crisis.

Personal life Tejeria is married to Joanes Labaien, a former state attorney who is the son of the late Ramon Labaien, Minister of Culture of the Basque Government and mayor of San Sebastian in the 1980s. The couple has two daughters (born in 2005 and 2009) and two sons (twins, born in 2016). They live in San Sebastian.