 He is the son of (also known as 'Ondarru') who served for many years as assistant to Mané at managerial appointments including Alavés and Athletic Bilbao, and the nephew of former Athletic and Real Zaragoza midfielder Ander Garitano; they are distantly related to who also served Athletic as player and manager, while Gaizka's mother's family members include another man who performed both roles, Koldo Aguirre.Garitano is not related to fellow Basque manager Asier Garitano, who also had playing spells with Bilbao Athletic and Eibar.Eibar