This could represent an attack on Spanish democracy. The former president of the Catalan People’s Party (right), Alejo Vidal-Quadras, was shot in the face on the street in Madrid (Spain) this Thursday, reports the Spanish press agency EFE.
The 78-year-old man was injured by a motorcyclist wearing a black helmet who fled after the shooting. The hypothesis of a sponsored action is being examined by the police. The events occurred around 1:30 p.m. on Núñez de Balboa street, in the Salamanca district of Madrid.
According to Samu, Alejo Vidal-Quadras was transported to a Madrid hospital “conscious” and his life is not in danger, state the ABC daily and TVE public television. Police are currently at the scene of the shooting. Police sources reported that an investigation is underway, entrusted to the Homicide Unit, and that no arrests have been made at this time.
An attack amid the controversy surrounding the Sanchez-Puigdemont agreement
The fact is that on Thursday morning the Spanish government had just announced an agreement with the Catalan independence party Junts to retain Pedro Sanchez at the head of the executive branch. He signed an agreement early Thursday morning in Brussels, where separatist Carles Puigdemont fled to avoid trial after the Catalan secession attempt failed in 2017.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras reacted to this decision on the social network this morning: “Our nation will no longer be a liberal democracy, but a totalitarian tyranny. “We Spaniards will not allow this,” he thundered.
The current president of the Spanish People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, paid tribute to the politician during a press conference. “I demand a quick investigation and the search for the culprits. We stand in solidarity with his family and hope he gets through this,” he said.
A physicist by training, Alejo Vidal-Quadras was leader of the Popular Party of Catalonia from 1991 to 1996 before beginning a career in the European Parliament, where he was elected from 1999 to 2014 and where he served as vice-president. In 2014, he announced that he was leaving his historic party and joining the far-right Vox party. He then led the party list to the European elections without succeeding in being elected for a fourth legislative period.