On July 10, 1997, at six in the afternoon, a caller, speaking on behalf of the terrorist organization ETA, called the newspaper Egin to report the kidnapping of Miguel Ángel Blanco and warned that he would kill him if he did not approach all Basque prisoners, giving until Saturday, July 12, at four in the afternoon.
ETA carried out its threat and assassinated the popular councilor, which provoked an unprecedented rejection in the form of mobilizations in all parts of the State, also in the Basque Country.
This Sunday, the figure of Miguel Ángel Blanco will be remembered again in Ermua with an event organized by the City Council and which will have a broad institutional and political party representation, as well as other areas of society, with the estimated presence of around 400 guests.
The tribute will begin at half past twelve in the sports center that bears the name of Miguel Ángel Blanco, with the interventions of the mayor of Ermua, Juan Carlos Abascal, Mari Mar Blanco, sister of the mayor and president of the Miguel Ángel Blanco Foundation , the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to close with the words of King Felipe VI.
In the days prior to this important date in the calendars, various tributes have taken place in different parts of the Basque Country, including Bilbao and the same town of Ermua. The former Prime Minister, José María Aznar, was one of those who participated in the tribute to Blanco, as well as the deputy of the Madrid Assembly and sister of the councilor assassinated by ETA, Marimar Blanco, and the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijoo.
