Political genealogy The party has its roots in the People's Alliance founded on 9 October 1976, by former
Francoist minister
Manuel Fraga. Although Fraga was a member of the reformist faction of the Franco regime, he supported an extremely gradual transition to democracy. However, he badly underestimated the public's distaste for Francoism. Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the large number of former Francoists in the party led the public to perceive it as both
reactionary and
authoritarian. In the June
1977 general election, the AP garnered only 8.3 percent of the vote, putting it in fourth place. In the months following the 1977 elections, dissent erupted within the AP over constitutional issues that arose as the draft document was being formulated. Fraga had wanted from the beginning to brand the party as a traditional European conservative party, and wanted to move the AP toward the political centre in order to form a larger
centre-right party. Fraga's wing won the struggle, prompting most of the disenchanted reactionaries to leave the party. The AP then joined with other moderate conservatives to form the
Democratic Coalition (
Coalición Democrática, CD). It was hoped that this new coalition would capture the support of those who had voted for the
Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in 1977, but who had become disenchanted with the
Adolfo Suárez government. In the March
1979 general election, however, the CD received 6.1 percent of the vote, again finishing a distant fourth. At the AP's Second Party Congress in December 1979, party leaders re-assessed their involvement in the CD. Many felt that the creation of the coalition had merely confused the voters, and they sought to emphasise the AP's independent identity. Fraga resumed control of the party, and the political resolutions adopted by the party congress reaffirmed the conservative orientation of the AP. In the early 1980s, Fraga succeeded in rallying the various components of the right around his leadership. He was aided in his efforts to revive the AP by the increasing disintegration of the UCD. In the general elections held in October 1982, the AP gained votes both from previous UCD supporters and from the
far right. It became the major opposition party to the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, securing 25.4 percent of the popular vote. Whereas the AP's parliamentary representation had dropped to nine seats in 1979, the party allied itself with the small Christian democratic
People's Democratic Party (PDP) and won 106 seats in 1982. The increased strength of the AP was further evidenced in the municipal and regional elections held in May 1983, when the party drew 26 percent of the vote. A significant portion of the electorate appeared to support the AP's emphasis on
law and order as well as its pro-business policies. on
Calle de Génova in Madrid. As the party seat, the term Génova is often used as a
metonym for the party leadership. Subsequent political developments belied the party's aspirations to continue increasing its base of support. Prior to the June 1986 elections, the AP joined forces with the PDP and the
Liberal Party (PL) to form the
People's Coalition (CP), in another attempt to expand its constituency to include the centre of the political spectrum. The coalition called for stronger measures against terrorism, for more
privatisation, and for a reduction in public spending and in taxes. The CP failed to increase its share of the vote in the 1986 elections, however, and it soon began to disintegrate. When regional elections in late 1986 resulted in further losses for the coalition, Fraga resigned as AP chairman, although he retained his parliamentary seat. At the party congress in February 1987,
Antonio Hernández Mancha was chosen to head the AP, declaring that under his leadership the AP would become a "modern right-wing European party". But Hernández Mancha lacked political experience at the national level, and the party continued to decline. When support for the AP plummeted in the municipal and regional elections held in June 1987, it was clear that it would be overtaken as major opposition party by Suárez's
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS). After the resignation of Manuel Fraga and the successive victories of the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the
general election of 1982 and
1986 general election, the Popular Alliance entered a period of deep crisis. Fraga then took the reins and, at the Congress of January 1989, the constituent parties of the CP were folded into a new party, the People's Party. While the AP was the nucleus of the merged party, the PP tried to bill itself as a more moderate party than the AP. Fraga was the first chairman of the party, with Francisco Álvarez Cascos as the secretary general.
Refoundation Aznar years (1989–2004) On 4 September 1989, and at the suggestion of Fraga himself,
José María Aznar (then premier of the Autonomous Region of
Castile and León) was named the party's candidate for
Prime Minister of Spain at the general elections. In April 1990, Aznar became chairman of the party. Fraga would later be named Founding Chairman of the People's Party. The PP joined the
European People's Party in 1991. The PP became the largest party for the first time in 1996, and Aznar became Prime Minister with the support of the
Basque Nationalist Party, the
Catalan Convergence and Union and the
Canarian Coalition. In the 2000 elections, the PP gained an
absolute majority.
Foreign policy Known to have a strong
Atlanticist ideology, the People's Party fostered stronger ties to the United States.
Rajoy years (2004–2018) during a speech in
Bilbao In August 2003,
Mariano Rajoy was appointed Secretary General by Aznar. Thus, Rajoy became the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the
2004 general election, held three days after the
11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, and which Rajoy lost by a big margin to
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The PP under
Mariano Rajoy opposed the PSOE government after the PP lost the
general election in 2004, arguing that this victory was influenced by the
Madrid bombings of 11 March 2004. At a national level, its political strategy has followed two main axes, both linked to Spain's delicate regional politics: Firstly, opposing further administrative devolution to Catalonia by means of the newly approved "Estatut" or Statute of Catalonia that lays out the powers of the Catalan regional government. Secondly, opposition to political negotiations with the Basque separatist organisation
ETA. The People's Party has supported the Association of Victims of Terrorism (
AVT) with respect to the Government's actions concerning ETA's ceasefire, and was able to mobilise hundreds of thousands of people in demonstrations against Government policies that, in its opinion, would result in
political concessions to ETA. Nevertheless, the end of the ceasefire in December 2006 ended prospects for government negotiations with ETA. The prospect of increased demands for autonomy in the programs of Catalan and Basque parties, and Zapatero's alleged favouring of them, became a focus for the party's campaign for the
March 2008 general election.
Basque President Juan José Ibarretxe's proposal for a unilateral referendum for the solution of the
Basque Conflict was another important issue. The People's Party under Rajoy has an increasingly patriotic, or
nationalist, element to it, appealing to the sense of "Spanishness" and making strong use of national symbols such as the
Spanish flag. Prior to the national celebrations of Spanish Heritage Day, Rajoy made a speech asking Spaniards to "privately or publicly" display their pride in their nation and to honor their flag, an action which received some criticism from many political groups of the Congress. member from prison
2008 elections and convention On 9 March 2008, Spain held a general election, with both main parties led by the same candidates who competed in 2004: 154 People's Party MPs were elected, up six on the previous election. However, the failure to close the gap with the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (which increased its number of MPs by five) provoked a party crisis, in which some internal groups and supportive media questioned the leadership of Rajoy, who was said to be close to resigning. After an impasse of three days, he decided to stay, and summoned a Party Convention to be held in June 2008 in Valencia. Speculation about alternative candidates erupted in the media, with discussion of the possible candidacies of
Madrid Mayor
Alberto Ruíz Gallardón and
Madrid autonomous community Premier
Esperanza Aguirre creating a national debate, calls for support and opposition from the media, etc. In the end, neither one stood, with Gallardón explicitly backing Rajoy and Aguirre refusing to comment on the issue. The only politician who explicitly expressed his intention to stand was
Juan Costa, who had been a minister under Aznar, but he was unable to garner the 20% support required to stand in the election because of the support Rajoy had received prior to his nomination. At the convention,
Mariano Rajoy was re-elected chairman with 79% of the vote, and in order to "refresh the negative public image of the party", which had been a major factor in the electoral defeat, its leadership was controversially renewed with young people, replacing a significant number of politicians from the Aznar era. Among the latter, most resigned of their own accord to make room for the next generation, like the PP Spokesman in the Congress of Deputies
Eduardo Zaplana, replaced by
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría; and the party Secretary-General
Ángel Acebes, whose office was taken by
María Dolores de Cospedal. The convention also saw significant reforms to the Party Statutes, including the reform of election to the office of Party Chairperson, which was to be open to more competition; and linking that office to the party candidacy in the general elections, etc.
María San Gil, Chairwoman of the Basque PP, left the party (even resigning from her
Basque Parliament seat) over disagreements on the party policies towards regional nationalisms in Spain, and particularly over the deletion of a direct reference to the
Basque Nationalist Party accusing them of being too passive and "contemptuous" regarding the armed Basque group ETA. Most PP members rallied behind San Gil at first, but when it became clear that her decision was final the national leadership called a regional party election, in which
Antonio Basagoiti was chosen as the new Basque PP leader. The PP won a clear victory in the
2011 general elections, ousting the PSOE from government. With 44.62% of the votes, the conservatives won 186 seats in the
Congreso de los Diputados, the biggest victory they have ever had. On the other hand, the centre-left PSOE suffered a huge defeat, losing 59 MPs. The PP, under Mariano Rajoy's leadership, returned to power after 7 years of opposition. In May 2018, the
Audiencia Nacional declared the PP as guilty part "on a lucrative basis" in the
Gürtel corruption scheme, understanding the profited from the corruption scheme "to the detriment of the State's interests". This led to a
motion of no confidence to the prime minister Mariano Rajoy, led by socialist leader
Pedro Sánchez, which eventually succeeded, thus forcing Rajoy to quit his position, and ultimately resign as the party's leader. His substitute
would be determined in July 2018.
Leadership of Casado (2018–2022) Pablo Casado's victory in the
July 2018 PP leadership election was considered a party swing towards the right. Polls indicated a continual decline in support for the PP in the lead-up to the
April 2019 general election. Ultimately, the party achieved the worst result in its history, winning just 16.7% of the national vote – a decline of almost 16% from the 2016 election – and losing over half its seats. Though becoming only the second largest party in the Congress of Deputies, it held almost half as many seats as first placed PSOE, and was less than a single percentage point and just nine seats ahead of third placed Ciudadanos. Casado refused to resign following the poor result, and proposed a sudden U-turn of the party back into the moderate centre-right under pressure from party regional leaders one month ahead of the
regional and
local elections. The party enjoyed a partial revival in
2019 European elections, winning 20.15% of votes. The party increased its support in the
November 2019 election, scoring 20.82% of votes and electing 89 deputies and 83 senators.
2022 internal organisational crisis After a few months of confrontation between the president of the
Community of Madrid,
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the leadership of the national branch of the party, on 16 February 2022, information appeared about an alleged payment (in the form of a commission) of Díaz Ayuso's brother for health material and also about alleged
spying on the president's family by the party leadership through the
City Council of Madrid. The president herself accused in an appearance the following day the national leadership of the PP of wanting to destroy her politically. That afternoon, the secretary general,
Teodoro García Egea, appeared to deny all the information related to the attempt to spy on the president's entourage; in this appearance, Egea informed of the opening of an informative file on the actions of the president of Madrid, which was closed the following day, considering the documentation provided valid. A few hours later, that same day,
Ángel Carromero, a trusted person of the Mayor of Madrid,
José Luis Martínez-Almeida, resigned after the release of some audios in which one of the detectives claimed to have been contacted from the Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo (Municipal Housing and Land Company). The following day, President Pablo Casado stated on the
Cadena COPE radio channel that Díaz Ayuso should provide all the necessary documentation to clear doubts about his honorability, questioning at the same time his honesty by stating whether "it is logical to award a commission to your brother in April 2020, when 700 people were dying in Spain due to the pandemic". This led to a schism in the leadership of the PP, in which regional leaders and popular leaders demanded political responsibilities and a change of leadership and responsibilities in the apparatus. On 22 February there was a cascade of resignations of senior party officials and the demand by the majority of territorial barons and the Popular Parliamentary Group for the holding of an Extraordinary Congress, in addition to the request for the resignation of the Secretary General, which took place that same day. Casado finally agreed to convene the National Board of Directors on 1 March to set in motion an Extraordinary Congress of the PP. Casado was subsequently replaced as leader by
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the president of
Galicia.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership (2022–present) After becoming the party's leader, Feijóo designated
Cuca Gamarra, the PP's spokesperson in the
Congress of Deputies, as the new Secretary General. After the PP took several regions—including
Aragon, the
Balearic Islands, and
Valencia—from the PSOE in Spain's 2023
regional and
local elections, Sánchez called for a
snap general election. The conservative party gained forty-eight seats in Congress and an absolute majority in the Senate, winning the elections. ==Ideology==