The think tanks that want to influence the right
With the launch of Atenea, the ecosystem of foundations led by former leaders of PP, Vox and Cs is expanded.
MadridThe name of Iván Espinosa de los Monteros has been added this week to the increasingly long list of former leaders of PP, Vox and Cs who are reconverting into leaders of a think tankThe founder of the party chaired by Santiago Abascal has launched Atenea, which was presented this Thursday as an "association," "civil platform," and "think tank" that seeks to contribute to the "cultural battle" against the left. The initiative is not original, as Espinosa de los Monteros himself acknowledged, when he cited almost a dozen similar "people and institutions" that "began working in that direction before" him. These are the most prominent organizations trying to influence the Spanish right and far right:
Aznar's FAES
A way to set the pace in the PP
The Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies (FAES) is one of the organizations with the greatest political and media impact. Chaired by José María Aznar, former head of the executive and former leader of the PP, it defines itself as a liberal-conservative entity. Leaders of the current PP leadership regularly participate in its events, although it is not directly linked to the party. However, the link is clear. At the PP congress in July, a space was reserved for a FAES stand. One of its members is Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, deputy spokesperson for the PP in Congress. Furthermore, Aznar's positions, from the hard wing of the Popular Party like Isabel Díaz Ayuso, often mark the pace of the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as has recently occurred with the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Reformism 21
The think tank promoted by Feijóo
Two and a half years ago Feijóo launched his own think tank, openly affiliated with the party, which was read as an attempt to distance itself from the FAES. Reformismo 21 —which replaced a previous foundation called Concordia y Libertad— has its headquarters on the same Génova street, right in front of the PP, and the person who until a few months ago was the general coordinator, Alma Ezcurra, has become the sectoral coordinator of the PP leadership tasked with defining the party's ideological line for the next electoral cycle.
NEOS, from Mayor Oreja
The former minister with an anti-abortion agenda
Jaime Mayor Oreja was Aznar's Interior Minister at the height of the Spanish government's fight against ETA. He now heads an ultraconservative Catholic foundation called NEOS, one of whose main pillars is the opposition to the right to abortion. He has ties to both the PP and Vox. A few months ago, NEOS sent a document to both Feijóo and Santiago Abascal proposing a "minimum program" for them to reach an agreement. PP officials such as Álvarez de Toledo or the party's president in Catalonia, Alejandro Fernández, and Vox, like its general secretary, Ignacio Garriga, have participated in Mayor Oreja's events. He also has contact with Isabel Díaz Ayuso's Madrid PP.
Aguirre allies with Girauta
Former PP and Cs officials form Pie en Pared
Former Ciudadanos leader and now Vox MEP Juan Carlos Girauta chairs one of the foundations with which Espinosa de los Monteros wants to "collaborate." This is Pie en Pared, which, apart from Girauta, has as its visible faces Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Community of Madrid with the PP, and another former Ciudadanos official, businessman Marcos de Quinto. Members of this organization include figures close to Ayuso, such as economist Daniel Lacalle and actor and former Ciudadanos official Toni Cantó.
The Vidal-Quadras project
Promoter against amnesty
Another Vox founder who also attended Espinosa de los Monteros' presentation, who has also distanced himself from Abascal's party and who had previously served as president of the People's Party (PP) in Catalonia, Aleix Vidal-Quadras, stated this Thursday that there is no room for the creation of more political parties on the Spanish right, but celebrated "the activation of civil society" with another entity with similar goals. Vidal-Quadras chairs the Foro Libertad y Alternativa foundation, which has been one of the driving forces behind the protests against the amnesty law and against Pedro Sánchez. The case of the former PP leader is paradigmatic of the links and overlaps between these entities: he is a member of Pie en Pared and chose a NEOS event to reappear after the attack he suffered in 2023.
The founding of Vox
Dissent, directly chaired by Abascal
Like the PP, Vox has its own foundation, Disenso. It is chaired directly by Abascal. Unlike other think tanks While they define themselves as independents and try to steer parties toward the position they believe best suits them, Disenso represents Vox's official line. Examples include its latest report on immigration, as well as the ties it has established with foundations close to US President Donald Trump. Furthermore, Disenso is under scrutiny due to suspicions that it may be part of a network of irregular financing.
Athena, alternative to Abascal
Espinosa de los Monteros enters the game
The latest to join this ecosystem is Atenea. This initiative by Espinosa de los Monteros sought to have her own voice and establish an alternative to Abascal, who aligned himself with the most radical and hardline wing of the party. Abascal clashed with the more liberal sector represented by Espinosa de los Monteros, who He left the Vox leadership two years ago. And with this initiative, he's also moving closer to the PP. His team includes former Cs leaders, former Vox officials, Guadalupe Sánchez, the lawyer for the emeritus king, and Ricardo Garrudo, the former president of one of the foundations linked to the birth of Vox, Denaes, who is now vice president of Atenea.