Longtime conservative politician in Spain is shot in the face on a Madrid street
MADRID — A veteran right-wing politician in Spain has been taken to a hospital in Madrid after being shot in a street in the capital, police said Thursday.
Police said Alejandro Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face on a central street around 1:30 p.m. local time and was conscious when taken to a hospital.
According to Spanish state news agency EFE, police believe the shooter was a person who escaped the scene on a motorbike wearing a black helmet.
Vidal Cuadras, 78, was a longtime member of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, its regional leader in Catalonia and a European Parliament member before he broke away to help found the far-right Vox party. He left Vox shortly after a failed attempt to win a European Parliament seat in 2014.
Police are investigating the shooting and have yet to make any arrests.
Vox President Santiago Abascal said he believed Vidal-Quadras’ life was not in immediate danger.
Thousands of ordinary citizens got into legal trouble for their parts in Catalonia’s illegal independence bid that brought Spain to the brink of rupture.
“Thank God it seems that Alejandro Vidal-Quadras is out of danger,” Abascal said.
Popular Party President Alberto Núñez Feijóo deplored the shooting and wished for Vidal-Quadras’ recovery.
Vidal-Quadras hasn’t been active in politics for several years, but he has maintained a public role as a media commentator and columnist.
He served as a vice president of the European Parliament and took a heavy interest in foreign affairs, participating in the legislature’s delegations to the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
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