Esperanza Aguirre settles scores with Mariano Rajoy
The former president of Madrid claims that Mazón "was not where he should have been."
BarcelonaIf former Madrid president Esperanza Aguirre comes to Barcelona, a sector of the hardline and "liberal" wing of the PP goes like a faithful to mass. But this sector, which also includes aristocrats like those who bought titles at the beginning of the 20th century and their descendants like the businessman Joaco Güell – ex-husband of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo –, is not always disciplined: neither in their arrival time nor in what they say. Güell was in charge of presenting his book, A liberal in politics (Deusto, 2025), at the Casa del Libro in Barcelona, along with former CEOE president Joan Rosell and former PP leader Santi Fisas, but one of the key figures, when it was time to start, wasn't in his place. On time, only the leader of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, also a leader of the hardline sector, was missing.
He arrived five minutes after 6:30 p.m., the scheduled time, in a triumphant entrance with liberals and "patriots" and PP cadres, including moderates. Also arriving late was a leader who is fully in tune with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Barcelona councillor Daniel Sirera. 35 minutes, because he was coming from the presentation of the Barcelona gold medal to Pau Gasol.
Beyond punctuality, Güell also put aside courtesy and dared to reproach the author: he criticized Esperanza Aguirre for not standing up to Mariano Rajoy at the 2008 PP congress in Valencia. "What would have happened if you had shown up?" In fact, the former Spanish president was one of those affected by the event, along with his "friend" and former minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón: "He only focused on the economy" and "didn't deliver on any of his promises," Aguirre reiterated, also explaining a story to justify why she didn't consider doing so. She didn't convince Güell: "I don't believe you." Aguirre would only have shown up if Rajoy had resigned, something that, according to her, the Galician's wife wanted. But the problem was that the men They didn't want to.
During this tour, Aguirre has taken the opportunity to defend the primary election system because in the past she would have needed the endorsement of 600 delegates and only had the support of Madrid and the Basque Country. A warning to Feijóo, who wants to overthrow him in order to return to the previous system. Fernández has supported him and has even spoken of "regeneration" with open lists. The Catalan expressed his "absolute admiration" for Aguirre and, like her, called for "really thinking again" at the PP congress with the battle of ideas with the pillars of Spain and freedom. He also applauded the Madrid native's "pure and genuine self-criticism" and prescribed her, although He has already done so with reproaches included in his bookIn the hall, they listened expectantly to the founder of the People's Party (PP), Manuel Milián Mestre, his nephew and Barcelona councilor Juan Milián, along with other local figures, Fernández's entourage, and the former president of Fomento (Fomento), a PP supporter, Joaquim Gay de Montellà.
"Pro-terrorist" repertoire
Aguirre sang her repertoire against "pro-terrorists, separatists, and communists," "ZP" (José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero), and "Maduro substitutes" like the "leader" Sánchez. She also defended "Spanish patriotism," but did so by quoting the Catalanist Francesc Cambó—to the some surprise of a "radical" audience, at least from a liberal point of view, as Fisas recalled. Fisas also recalled his peculiar time as a Madrid councilor when Aguirre refused to allow departments to make laws, something he hadn't done in five years.
But the most political content, Aguirre told RTVE this Tuesday morning, opining that she would have resigned if she had found herself in the situation of the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, who "wasn't where she should be" with the DANA (National Anti-Terrorist Debate). Nor has she ruled out that her disciple, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, could lead the PP in the future.