This was a victory built, not merely won. On Sunday 22 March 2026, Serge Blanco was elected mayor of Biarritz with 41.92% of the vote in the second round. Maider Arosteguy received 32.21%, Ana Ezcurra 25.87%. What made this result possible was a decision taken on the evening of the first round.
Jean-Baptiste Dussaussois-Larralde: the man who made the difference
In the first round, Jean-Baptiste Dussaussois-Larralde had won 13.11% of the vote. At 30 years old, this opposition councillor had sat on the municipal council for six years as a fierce opponent of Maider Arosteguy on a specific issue: the management of the town’s finances, what he called the “selling off of local heritage”.
Grounded in the detail of municipal files, he had built genuine programmatic credibility. When the question of which way to go arose on the evening of 15 March, he chose Blanco — quickly, without lengthy negotiation, without ambiguity. The two lists merged the following day. On paper, 13 extra points. In reality, much more: a substance and legitimacy for a list whose strength had been primarily symbolic.
In the new municipal team, Dussaussois-Larralde is no decorative figure. He brings what Blanco didn’t need to claim in order to win — but will need in order to govern: a detailed knowledge of the files, institutional networks, and six years of documented opposition to the outgoing mayor.
Blanco, or the return of the city’s own son
Serge Blanco is 67 years old. He was born in Caracas, raised in Biarritz, and never really left. His rugby career with Biarritz Olympique and the French national team made him a national legend. His second career — clothing, thalassotherapy, hospitality — anchored him in the local economic fabric. The third begins in front of the town hall.
His list “Mon équipe c’est Biarritz !” carried a line his supporters summed up in one sentence: “Let Biarritz be Biarritz again.” A deliberately vague formula that nonetheless said something real — a nostalgia for a town where life was still good before everything became too expensive, too saturated, too commercialised.
The files that await
The list is long. The erosion of the Côte des Basques cliffs is an open-ended project — the consolidation works, halted then resumed, remain a priority for surfers and local residents. The Aguilera project — 250 dwellings on the plateau, fiercely contested during the campaign — will be one of the new majority’s first real tests. And the question of housing, in a town where prices have progressively excluded locals for a decade, remains the underlying issue.
The inaugural council session of the new mandate was held on Saturday 28 March 2026 at the town hall. First public session, first faces, first image of a team just beginning.
Second round results — 22 March 2026:
Serge Blanco (Mon équipe c’est Biarritz !) — 41.92%
Maider Arosteguy (Ensemble, vivons Biarritz) — 32.21%
Ana Ezcurra (Biarritz Berri Nouvelle Vague) — 25.87%