People’s Party (Spain)

News

Socialists Lose Election in Andalusia, Far Right Breaks Through

Susana Díaz, the president of Andalusia, answers questions from regional lawmakers in Seville, March 16, 2017
Susana Díaz, the president of Andalusia, answers questions from regional lawmakers in Seville, March 16, 2017 (Junta de Andalucía)

The right and far right did better in elections in Andalusia on Sunday than the polls had projected, possibly ending forty years of left-wing rule in the most populous region of Spain. Read more

Analysis

Harder Line Neither Helps Nor Hurts Spain’s People’s Party — For Now

European commissioner Jyrki Katainen listens to Spanish People's Party leader Pablo Casado during a congress of the European People's Party in Helsinki, Finland, November 8
European commissioner Jyrki Katainen listens to Spanish People’s Party leader Pablo Casado during a congress of the European People’s Party in Helsinki, Finland, November 8 (EPP)

Pablo Casado has pulled Spain’s conservative People’s Party to the right, taking a harder line on everything from abortion to Catalonia to Gibraltar to immigration.

So far, it has neither helped nor hurt his party in the polls. Read more

Opinion

The Spanish Right’s Gibraltar Hypocrisy

View of the Rock of Gibraltar from the territory's airport, September 29, 2015
View of the Rock of Gibraltar from the territory’s airport, September 29, 2015 (Shutterstock/Nigel Jarvis)

When Spain’s conservative People’s Party was in power, it promised not to exploit Britain’s exit from the EU to renegotiate the status of Gibraltar.

Now that the party is out of power, it blames the ruling Socialists for failing to do just that. Read more

Analysis

Spanish Right Takes Harder Line on Catalonia, Immigration

Pablo Casado greets members of the executive committee of Spain's People's Party in Barcelona, July 26
Pablo Casado greets members of the executive committee of Spain’s People’s Party in Barcelona, July 26 (PP)

The new Spanish conservative party leader, Pablo Casado, is making good on his promise to move the People’s Party to the right.

  • In talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who leads a minority left-wing government, Casado refused to support dialogue with Catalan parties that want to break away from Spain.
  • Separately, he argued Spain cannot “absorb millions of Africans who want to come to Europe in search of a better future.”

Both positions mark a hardening from those of Casado’s predecessor, and the previous prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. Read more

Analysis

With Casado, Spain’s People’s Party Turns Right

Pablo Casado delivers a news conference for Spain's conservative People's Party, June 19, 2017
Pablo Casado delivers a news conference for Spain’s conservative People’s Party, June 19, 2017 (PP)

Pablo Casado has won the leadership of Spain’s conservative People’s Party with 57 to 42 percent support from party delegates.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the former deputy prime minister, was considered the establishment favorite. Her defeat signals a desire for a more right-wing program. Casado’s economic policy is more liberal and he takes a hard line against the Catalan independence movement. Read more

Explainer

Everything You Need to Know About the Conservative Primary in Spain

Spanish People's Party leaders Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and Pablo Casado
Spanish People’s Party leaders Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and Pablo Casado (La Moncloa/PP)

The battle for the leadership of the Spanish right is now a two-person race: Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and Pablo Casado have emerged from a poll of party members as the frontrunners.

Sáenz de Santamaría, the former deputy prime minister and a confidant of outgoing People’s Party leader Mariano Rajoy, won 37 percent support against 34 percent for Casado, an ambitious right-wing lawmaker and the party’s communications chief.

Former defense minister María Dolores de Cospedal placed third with 26 percent support. She is expected to throw her support behind Casado. Read more

News

Rajoy Steps Down as Party Leader. Here Are His Possible Successors

Then-Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría of Spain gives a news conference in Madrid, October 13, 2017
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría of Spain gives a news conference in Madrid, October 13, 2017 (La Moncloa)

Mariano Rajoy has stepped down as leader of Spain’s center-right People’s Party.

Resignation was inevitable after Rajoy became the first prime minister in Spanish democratic history to be removed from office last week. The opposition Socialists cobbled together a majority consisting of left-wing and regionalist parties to end the conservative’s six-and-a-half year tenure. Read more