Alejo Vidal-Quadras (78), one of the founders of the far-right party Vox, was shot in the street. The ex-politician was shot in the face. He was seriously injured, but taken to hospital conscious. The perpetrators – according to witnesses two men – are still on the run.
Vidal-Quadras was shot near his home in Madrid around 1:30 p.m., Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported. A man wearing a black motorcycle helmet allegedly met him after he left a church and shot him in the face from two meters away. The emergency services say on X that Vidal-Quadras was hit in the lower jaw, according to the newspaper ‘El País’ his condition is said to be serious but stable.
The perpetrator then allegedly fled on the back of a motorcycle driven by another man. The two suspects could not yet be caught. The police have started a manhunt.
From PP to Vox
Vidal-Quadras served in the European Parliament between 1999 and 2014 for the right-wing Conservative Partido Popular (PP), of which he was also party leader in Catalonia. However, after 30 years he left the party because in his opinion it was not doing enough against the Catalan drive for independence.
Vidal-Quadras moved to the newly founded far-right and Spanish nationalist party Vox and immediately became acting chairman. He was party leader for Vox in the 2014 European elections, but was not elected again. Vidal-Quadras left politics in 2015.
“Totalitarian tyranny”
Vox is a fierce opponent of more autonomy for the Spanish states, including Catalonia. Just today, the Catalan separatist party Junts concluded an agreement with the Spanish Social Democrats of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Junts will support Sánchez to start a new term as prime minister in exchange for amnesty for Catalan separatists and more autonomy.
Vidal-Quadras had spoken critically about that agreement earlier today. On the social network X, he wrote that the agreement “shatters” the rule of law in Spain and puts an end to the separation of powers. According to Vidal-Quadras, this will “turn Spain from a liberal democracy into a totalitarian tyranny.” “The Spaniards will not allow that,” he said.
However, it is still unclear whether the shooting has anything to do with current political events. For the time being, there are no indications of terrorism.
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