PROPERTY SEARCH

HOME > MURCIA MAR MENOR & CARTAGENA > LOS BELONES > LOCAL SERVICES, FACILITIES

Date Published: 09/11/2023

VOX founder and ex-leader of the PP in Catalonia shot in the face in Madrid

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The right-wing ex-politician is in hospital, conscious but seriously injured

VOX founder and ex-leader of the PP in Catalonia shot in the face in Madrid

The former leader of the Catalonia wing of Spain’s conservative Partido Popular (PP) political party and one of the founding members of the far-right VOX group, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, has been shot in the face in broad daylight the centre of Madrid today, Thursday November 9.

The brutal attack comes on the same day as PP and VOX party members denounced an agreement between Catalan separatist parties and the ruling PSOE socialist party to provide legal amnesty over 2017’s illegal independence referendum in return for political support.

78-year-old Vidal-Quadras was shot on Calle Núñez de Balboa in Madrid at around 1.30pm, and has since been transferred to the Gregorio Marañón hospital in the capital.

Health workers report he is conscious. Sources from the National Police say they are investigating what happened.

Investigations are still in the early stages, but according to witness accounts, the shooter was wearing a black motorcycle helmet when he walked straight up to Vidal-Quadras, shot him in the face with a 9mm Parabellum pistol and made his getaway on the back of a large Yamaha motorbike that was idling nearby.

Just hours before the attack, the ex-politician Tweeted, “The infamous pact between Sánchez and Puigdemont has already been agreed upon, which shreds the rule of law in Spain and puts an end to the separation of powers. Our Nation will thus cease to be a liberal democracy to become a totalitarian tyranny. We Spaniards will not allow it.”

Nonetheless, Vidal-Quadras himself is reported to have told police in hospital that he believed Iran was behind the planned assassination attempt due to his links with the Iranian opposition movement. Vidal-Quadras was one of the first ever politicians that the Tehran regime put on its list of terrorists.

Image 1: Emergencias Madrid

Image 2: Alejo Vidal-Quadras/Twitter

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)