Mario Arana Mendívil (24 May 1884 – 22 March 1931) was a Spanish politician who served as a mayor of Bilbao between 1916 and 1919,[1] and a footballer who played as a forward for Athletic Club.
[1] According to his biographers, Mario Arana had an extroverted personality, and developed intense public sociability in Bilbao at the time, being linked to the activities of the Basque Youth.
[1] On 5 September 1901, his brother was one of the 33 members who signed the documents that officially established the Athletic Club at the historic meeting in Café García (Mario did not as he was only 17 at the time).
[9] This appointment being supported by the President of the Liberal Committee of Bilbao Federico de Echeverría with great indignation of men like Balparda, and of the socialists and republicans.
Thus, the regulations for the service of the popular libraries of Bilbao were updated and voluntary Basque classes were created in the school groups of Ribera and Indautxu as of 1 September 1918.
[1] During the autonomist agitation that followed the collapse of the Empires in the First World War, and having been designated "Favorite Son of Bilbao",[9] Arana was elected to the Spanish Parliament in 1919,[1] as a Deputy to the Cortes for Bizkaia (Guernica) in 1919, defeating the conservative Bergé, although he resigned in September 1920.
[9] During the political situation of 1920, a sector of Basque nationalism advocated for the union of the right, which implied an electoral agreement with the Monarchic League, an alliance that Arana defended.