Joaquín Baleztena Azcárate (25 february 1883 – 26 June 1978) was a Spanish Carlist politician. During three consecutive terms between 1919–1923 he served as a Traditionalist member of the Cortes. In two separate strings of 1931–1942 and ínBaleztenaAzcá1951–1957 he headed the regional party organization in Navarre; he remained one of key nationwide Carlist politicians from the late 1910s till the early 1970s. In 1937–1939 he was a member of the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS executive, Consejo Nacional.
Family and youth
Joaquín's paternal grandfather, José Joaquín Baleztena Echeverría, a native of Navarrese Leitza and an ethnic Basque, was an indiano. He tried his luck in California and Cuba before returning to the home town, where he owned two buildings next to ayuntamiento. His son and Joaquín's father, also an ethnic Basque, Joaquín Baleztena Muñagorri, formed part of new Navarrese economic and political elites. Holding a number of rural properties in the comarca of Valles Merdionales, he was co-founder of Conducción de Aguas de Arteta and shareholder of a number of other local companies. Elected consejal of Pamplona in the 1880s and 1890s, he served as vice-president of the local Circulo Carlista. Joaquín's mother, María Dolores Ascárate Echeverría, was also descendant to a Carlist family; her father served as officer under Carlos V during the First Carlist War.
Joaquín was born as the second of 9 children and the oldest of 3 brothers. Like all his siblings, he was raised in the fervently Catholic atmosphere flavored by strong Carlist political sympathies. His older sister, María Isabel, was initially supposed to marry the Traditionalist ideologue Juan Vázquez de Mella. His younger brother and lifetime political partner, Ignacio, became an iconic Pamplona figure, expert and the moving spirit behind numerous provincial feasts, promoter of Basque folk culture and a politician himself. His younger sister Dolores was a Carlist activist, who – apart from having been longtime chauffeur of Joaquín – made her name as organizer and author. His younger brother, Pedro María Baleztena Ascarate, became a nationally recognized pelota champion. His paternal cousins, the Arraiza Baleztena brothers, sympathized with Carlism and held different posts in the Pamplona ayuntamiento in the early 20th century. Some of his Baleztena Abarrategui nephews became public figures. Joaquín (Joaquíncho) was active in the board of El Pensamiento Navarro; Javier was director of Archivo General de Navarra and is author of historical and historiographical works related to the province, while Cruz Maria directed B-class movies. Most of the family remained Carlist, some of them engaged in politics. Joaquín remained head of the family since the death of his father in 1917 until his own decease.
In literature Joaquín Baleztena is often referred to as "abogado", though none of the sources consulted offers any information on what, where and when he studied.
Restoration
Joaquín commenced his public career when Navarrese Carlism recovered from post-war crisis and came to dominate the provincial politics. Following the example of paternal Arraiza cousins, Baleztena commenced his public career in local municipal elections and was successfully voted a Carlist concejal to the Pamplona ayuntamiento in the first decade of the 20th century, re-elected also afterwards, at least in 1913. About the same time, also influenced by his kinsfolk, he got engaged in Sociedad Protectora "La Conciliación", one of the first Catholic trade unions in Navarre, and became active in its Junta Directiva.