Pablo Casado
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pablo Casado Blanco (; born 1 February 1981) is a Spanish former politician. He was a member of the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
representing
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
until 4 April 2022, having previously represented
Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
between 2011 and 2019. From 2015 to 2018, he also served as vice secretary general of communication of the People's Party (PP). From July 2018 until April 2022, he was the president of the PP.


Biography


Early life

Casado was born on 1 February 1981 in
Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...
. His father, Miguel Casado González, was a doctor and his mother, Esther Blanco Ruiz, a nursing university professor. His family owns an
ophthalmologic Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...
clinic in his native city. He studied at the ''Colegio Castilla'', managed by the
Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...
, and took the 8th year of the General Basic Education (EGB) at
Douai School Douai School was a public (independent) school run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999. History 1615–1818 The monastic community was founded in Paris in 1615 and moved to Douai af ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. He has five brothers. He started his university studies in law at the
ICADE ICADE is the brand name by which two schools of the Comillas Pontifical University, located in Madrid (Spain), are known. It stands for '' Instituto Católico de Administración y Dirección de Empresas'' (''Catholic Institute of Business Administ ...
(a centre located in Madrid and integrated within the
Universidad Pontificia Comillas Comillas Pontifical University ( es, Universidad Pontificia Comillas) is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Spanish Province of the Society of Jesus in Madrid Spain. The university is involved in a number of academic exch ...
) in 1999, but he switched to another centre in 2004, enrolling in the CES Cardenal Cisneros, a privately managed centre owned by a
foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
of the
Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...
and attached (for the purpose of the issuance of the degree) to the public
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...
(UCM). Casado later falsely claimed to have earned a postgraduate degree at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
; he had in fact attended a four-day course in 2008 at
IESE Business School IESE Business School is the graduate business school of the University of Navarra. Founded in 1958 in Barcelona where its main campus is located,López, T. & Pampliega, J“La fundación del IESE (1956–1958)” Universidad de Navarra, Bibliotec ...
's Madrid campus. No academic requirements were needed to attend the course, and attendance was the only requirement for completion.


Start of political career

Casado entered politics and joined the People's Party (PP) in 2003 when he was still a student. He presided over the regional branch of the PP's youth organization in the
Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...
, known as the New Generations (NNGG), between 2005 and 2013. He made an initiation journey to
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in early 2007 (similar to the 2012 travel by his right-hand in the Madrilenian NNGG
Ángel Carromero Ángel Francisco Carromero Barrios is the secretary general of the Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area populat ...
), where he met with
Cuban dissidents The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is to replace the current government with a liberal democracy. According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent. Backgrou ...
such as
Oswaldo Payá Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (29 February 1952 – 22 July 2012) was a Cuban political activist. A Roman Catholic, he founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1987 to oppose the one-party rule of the Cuban Communist Party. He attracted int ...
. He left written testimony of it in pieces published in ''
Libertad Digital ''Libertad Digital'' (literally, ''Digital Freedom'') is an advocacy journalism online newspaper edited in Madrid, Spain. It does not follow a particular party line, but it claims to be classic liberal, It is published in Spanish. Origin ...
'' and ''El Mundo''. In 2007, he was included as candidate in the PP list for the election to the Assembly of Madrid; he became a member of the 8th term of the regional legislature (in June), where he held the functions of spokesman in the parliamentary Commission of Justice and Public Administrations and assistant spokesman in the Commission of Budget and Finance. He finally obtained his degree in law in the CES Cardenal Cisneros in September 2007 after having reportedly passed half of the credits of the 5-year licenciature in four months of that year. He also claims to have a BA in Business Administration and Management and an MA in Administrative Law from the
King Juan Carlos University Rey Juan Carlos University ( es, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, URJC) is a Spanish public research university located in the southern area of the Community of Madrid (Spain), with five campuses at Móstoles, Alcorcón, Vicálvaro, Aranjuez and ...
. The latter degree is a source of significant controversy, as Casado was found to have obtained it from the now controverted School of Administrative Law of that university without ever attending any class, taking any test, and turning in a final dissertation. He resigned as regional legislator in July 2009. In June 2009 Casado married Isabel Torres Orts; the couple have a daughter Paloma and a son Pablo. Isabel Torres is from a wealthy industrial family in
Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...
. During this period, in 2010, he became one of the founders (along with
Carlos Bustelo Carlos Bustelo y García del Real (born 1936) served as the Spanish Minister of Industry from 1979 to 1980. At the time Bustelo entered the cabinet, Spain was emerging from the Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Fran ...
,
Rafael Bardají Rafael Luis Bardají López (born Badajoz, 1959) is a Spanish author, sociologist and former national security advisor to the Spanish government who researches the fields of neoconservatism and international politics. He was the founder of the ''G ...
and Enrique Navarro Gil) of the Friends of Israel Initiative
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
.


National MP

He was included as candidate in the PP list for the constituency of
Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
in the November 2011 general election and became a member of the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
. He was subsequently re-elected in the
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and 2016 general elections. He was designated spokesman of the Campaign Committee of the PP for the
local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
and regional elections of May 2015. Later, in June 2015, he was appointed vice secretary general of communication of the PP by the party president
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
. On 9 October 2017, Casado made a comment about the former
President of Catalonia The President of the Government of Catalonia ( ca, President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, ) is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the gov ...
,
Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...
, alluding that should Puigdemont declare
Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...
, he could end up like Lluís Companys, who was imprisoned by the
Spanish Second Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
. His words were used by some Catalan nationalists to suggest that he referred to Companys' execution by Franco's regime in 1940, although Casado stated he was referring to his imprisonment by the democratic Second Republic.


Ongoing investigations on his degrees

In April 2018, in the wider scope of the ongoing Cifuentes Case, where the former President of the Community of Madrid
Cristina Cifuentes María Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas (born 1 July 1964) is a former Spanish politician from the People's Party. She was the President of the Community of Madrid from 24 June 2015 to her 25 April 2018 resignation. From 16 January 2012 to 13 April 2 ...
is being criminally investigated on the basis of forged documents relating to her
Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in Regional and Local Law at the
King Juan Carlos University Rey Juan Carlos University ( es, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, URJC) is a Spanish public research university located in the southern area of the Community of Madrid (Spain), with five campuses at Móstoles, Alcorcón, Vicálvaro, Aranjuez and ...
(URJC), doubts about the academic qualifications of Casado (who took the same post-graduate studies at the URJC) started to appear. Initially in relation of the presential
Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in Regional and Local Law, which Pablo Casado reportedly took and passed without ever attending classes, nor passing any test, as he publicly admitted and, later, in May 2018, in relation to alleged irregularities about the quick obtention of his degree in law at the CES Cardenal Cisneros, as consequence of alleged pressures by the then regional president,
Esperanza Aguirre Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma (; born 3 January 1952) is a Spanish politician. As member of the People's Party (PP), she served as President of the Senate between 1999 and 2002 (becoming the first female politician to have held the post), a ...
on the authorities of the CES Cardenal Cisneros, whose executive board was appointed by the regional government and was presided by
Lucía Figar Lucía Figar de Lacalle (born Madrid, 4 February 1975) is a Spanish politician in the People's Party (PP). She was the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports in the Government of the Community of Madrid The Government of the Community of Madrid ...
, colleague of Casado in the PP's parliamentary group in the Assembly of Madrid and regional minister of Education. The centre issued a statement where they denied such accusations, declaring there was not preferential treatment on the student Casado. This later development led to the opening of an investigation by the
Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
ate of the
Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...
(to which the CES Cardenal Cisneros is attached for the purpose of the issuance of academic degrees) to clarify the procedures about how the Law degree was actually granted while Casado was member of the regional legislature. Similarly, the instructing judge of the Cifuentes Case opened, in May 2018, a separated piece in order to investigate the MA at the URJC, which Casado had allegedly taken during the 2008–2009 academic year. The judge asked for a report to the
National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation The National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation ( es, Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación, ANECA) is the authorised agency of the Spanish government whose aim is to provide external quality assurance for the ...
(ANECA) and asked the
Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
for the confirmation of the parliamentary immunity status (''aforamiento'') of Casado, the later considered a routine procedure before moving the investigation to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. In May 2018 the URJC opened an investigation about the title of BA in Business Administration and Management of Casado seeking to "shed light on the situation of the degree studies of the student Pablo Casado Blanco". On 6 August 2018, the instructing judge sent a reasoned statement to the Supreme Court requesting the formal indictment of Pablo Casado for the crimes of prevarication and improper bribery, after assessing "indications of criminal responsibility" in the obtention of his master's degree. The Supreme Court had evidence that Casado could have received a «favor treatment», but defended that this would not constitute a crime, arguing in the justment, issued in September 2018, that there was no indication that there was a previous or simultaneous concert between the popular president and the director of the master's degree On September 21, 2018, the Inspection of services of the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) filed the investigation that had been opened ex officio on the degree of Pablo Casado. He did it, as rector Javier Ramos reported, because he did not detect irregularities. The university said it had analyzed all the formal administrative procedures of the president of the PP - from his academic record until his enrollment, payments, validations, etc. - without detecting "evidence of any error".


19th PP National Congress

After the
motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
,
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
resigned from the leadership of the PP, Pablo Casado ran as pre-candidate to the primary election to the presidency of the party. He introduced himself as a (potential) leader intending to "recover" voters from
Citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and Vox. He obtained the second most votes out of 6 candidates after
Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón (born 10 June 1971) is a Spanish former politician of the People's Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of the Presidency from 2011 to 2018. She was member of the Congress o ...
, former
Deputy Prime Minister of Spain The first deputy prime minister of Spain, officially First Vice President of the Government of Spain ( es, Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno de España), is the second in command to the prime minister of Spain, assuming its duties when the Pr ...
, who received the most votes among the party members with a margin of 1,500 votes. On July 21, 2018, during the 19th Extraordinary National Congress of the PP, a final vote among 3,082 party delegates was held in order to decide the new leader of the PP between Sáenz de Santamaría and Casado. He won the voting among the delegates with 1,701 votes (57,2%) versus 1,250 (42%) votes to Sáenz de Santamaría out of 2,973 votes, being proclaimed as the new president, in what was considered a party swing towards the right.


2019 election

In response to a budget defeat, Prime Minister
Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...
dissolved the Cortes Generales, giving Casado an early test of his leadership, which was also in the aftermath of the first right-of-centre government in Andalucia. The election results proved disappointing for Casado, his party losing over half of their seats in the Cortes Generales, with Albert Rivera's Citizens, overtaking them as the foremost party of the centre-right in many regions of Spain, and the new far-right Vox also taking a significant number of voters. A major loss, was the member for Álava, and the 2019 election campaign manager,
Javier Maroto Javier Ignacio Maroto Aranzabal is a Spanish politician serving as senator from Castile and León since 24 July 2019 and Spokesperson of the Popular Group in the Senate since 30 July. He was the Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, from 2011 to 2015, the ...
, who not only lost his seat in the Basque country to
EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu ( en, link=yes, Basque Country Gather or Basque Country Unite) is a left-wing, Basque nationalist, pro-independence political coalition active in the Spanish autonomous communities of Basque Country, Navar ...
, but was fired for his responsibility for PP's defeat. Casado refused to resign, but many members' worries of the "suicide" that was his controversial leadership, have been confirmed in light of the defeat, as he has now U-turned back to the political centre, placing much of the blame of the loss on Cs and Vox, for splintering the vote. Casado adopted an active role during the COVID-19 lockdown, refraining from restricting public activities, visiting disparate locations such as Mercamadrid, a hotel, a sheep farm and the headquarters of the association of vehicle producers; he proceeded to criticise the Government of Spain from those platforms. In May 2020 he established abstention on the vote on the extension of the State of Alarm as the party line.


Leadership challenges

His leadership of the PP was challenged in 2022 by
Isabel Díaz Ayuso Isabel Natividad Díaz Ayuso (; born 17 October 1978) is a Spanish politician and journalist serving as the president of the Community of Madrid since 2019. She is the president of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party of Madrid. A member ...
, the popular president of the community of Madrid, leading to a violent internal conflict. The latter went so far as to accuse Casado of maneuvering to "destroy" her. A large number of PP leaders and activists demanded Casado's resignation, which he refused to do. The president of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, considered the most respected figure in the PP, said that "the situation is unsustainable, Pablo Casado's reign is coming to an end, we have to make difficult decisions." Casado resigned as PP leader and an MP on 4 April, being replaced as party leader by
Alberto Núñez Feijóo Alberto Núñez Feijóo (; ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish People's Party politician. He currently serves as senator from Galicia and as president of the People's Party. He served as the president of the Regional Government of Galicia ...
.


Political positions

He has been described as
neoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and coun ...
, as well as close to
José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...
and
Esperanza Aguirre Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma (; born 3 January 1952) is a Spanish politician. As member of the People's Party (PP), she served as President of the Senate between 1999 and 2002 (becoming the first female politician to have held the post), a ...
. He describes himself as
liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
. According to José Luis Villacañas, Casado's discourse incorporates several of the core tenets of the Spanish right, including an emphasis on
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, the secondary role of women, a stress on the unity of the Spanish nation,
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
views, and
Atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, the ...
. According to Antonio Elorza, Casado's ascension represents the comeback of the reactionary PP in the name of principles and fidelity to political lineage: the family as a totem, a fiscal counterreform, a heavy hand in Catalonia, a preventively repressive legislation and
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
's corpse remaining at
Valle de los Caídos The Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: Valle de los Caídos; ) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. Dictator Fran ...
. In October 2017, he vouched (on a personal basis) for a potential reform of the
Organic Law An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state. By country France Under Article ...
of Political Parties which would include the illegalization of political parties promoting the independence (of a part of Spain). Annoyed by the decision of a German court to grant the extradition of Puigdemont to Spain solely for the charge of embezzlement in July 2018 (which he branded as "humiliation"), he raised the possibility of abolishing the
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
. In September 2018 he directly ordered the PP members of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
to abstain in the voting of the Sargentini report calling for triggering Article 7 proceedings against the Hungarian government of
Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...
. Also in July 2018, he inveighed against "
gender ideology The anti-gender movement is an international movement which opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology", " gender theory" or "genderism". The concepts cover a variety of issues and have no coherent definition. Members of the anti-gender mov ...
", which he described as a form of "social collectivism the centre-right must fight against". He is also critical of the right of abortion as well as
euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
. On 21 July 2018, in the National Congress of the PP, he vowed to "reconquer the Catalan people". Referencing Tabarnia, a hypothetical anti-independentist breakaway from Catalonia, he said that he would be "turning the hypothetical Tabarnia into a real Tabarnia". He has declared the "
Hispanidad ''Hispanidad'' (, en, Hispanicity,) is a Spanish term alluding to the group of people, countries, and communities that share the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. The term can have various, different implications and meanings depending on ...
" to be the mankind's greatest feat, only comparable to
romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
. According to Elorza, in his message, void of any criticism, Casado recovers the formulation of the concept of Hispanidad of the 1930s and reaffirms a particular idea of Spain, in which history, turned into a mechanism of exaltation, is used to propel a nationalist mobilization. The use by Casado of terminology such as accusing NGOs of being "
human traffickers Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extra ...
" while also criticizing a perceived "do-goodism" in the Sánchez Government regarding its migration policy has drawn comparisons to Italian deputy prime minister
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...
by Steven Forti, of the ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine. He also said that action for the historical memory of
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's crimes should be brough about by consensus, and that Spain should concentrate on problems of the present, not the past. A
monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
, he vocally defended the institution and proclaimed "I will always defend the King of Spain" in 2018 while he announced his opposition to opening a parliamentary commission aiming to investigate the irregularities allegedly committed by King ''emeritus''
Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
that
Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (''née'' Larsen; born 28 January 1965) is a German-born Danish entrepreneur. Early life Corinna Larsen was born on 28 January 1964 in Frankfurt, Germany to a German mother, Ingrid Sauer, and a Danish father, ...
revealed. He has also considered as good move forward getting used to include praises to the King of Spain in everyday conversations and deemed acts such as paying the pensions as a figurated way of saying ''Viva el Rey'' ("Long live the King"). On 20 November 2021, he attended a special
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
in Granada in the honour of the former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco on the anniversary of his death. The Francisco Franco National Foundation publicly thanked Casado's attendance. The only explanation given by his political party was that he did not know what the mass was about, despite Franco flags and symbols being present in the church. On the economic front, he promises to eliminate taxes on wealth, inheritance and gifts, and to lower income and corporate taxes.


Electoral history


Explanatory notes


Citations

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Casado, Pablo 1981 births Politicians from Castile and León Conservatism in Spain Leaders of political parties in Spain Living people Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 8th Assembly of Madrid Members of the People's Parliamentary Group (Assembly of Madrid) People from Palencia People's Party (Spain) politicians Spanish nationalists Spanish Roman Catholics