Rajoy resigns as People’s Party leader

Mariano Rajoy, ousted as Spain’s president last week following a corruption scandal, will resign as the leader of the People’s Party (PP) once a successor is elected in an upcoming convention.

“The time has come for me to put an end to this story: PP must move forward under a new leadership,” Rajoy told his party on Tuesday. “It’s the best for PP and for me. And I believe that it’s the best for Spain as well. And that’s all that matters.”

Rajoy’s announcement puts an end to a political career spanning over 30 years, including the presidency of Spain from 2011 until Saturday last week. He has also been vice president, minister and government spokesperson, as well as the most senior figure in PP since being appointed as its leader by former president José María Aznar in 2004.

All eyes are now on the most likely candidates for the succession. This includes vice president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, in charge of Spain’s direct rule in Catalonia during the seven months that lasted the takeover, María Dolores de Cospedal, PP secretary general and defense minister, and also Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the regional president of Galicia, among others.

Rajoy led Spain in its response to Catalonia’s push for independence from the outset of the movement in 2012, and throughout the escalation that led to a referendum and a declaration of independence last October, which plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades.

Catalan pro-independence parties, as well as Basque nationalists, were instrumental in securing the votes needed by the Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez to win a no-confidence vote and dethrone Rajoy as head of the government.