Alberto Núñez Feijóo (, ; born 10 September 1961) is a Spanish politician who serves as

Member of the Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has 350 members elected from fifty-two constituencie ...

and as president of the People's Party. He served as the President of the Autonomous Government of Galicia from 2009 to 2022. Feijóo was appointed government formateur following the 2023 election, however his

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...

ultimately failed. Formerly a civil servant, Feijóo was secretary general of Galicia's ministries of agriculture and health before moving to the same role at the national Ministry of Health, and for three years he was President of the State Society of Mail and Telegraphs. Having officially joined the People's Party of Galicia (PPdeG), he entered the

Parliament of Galicia The Parliament of Galicia () is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is formed by 75 deputies (). Deputies are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolu ...

in 2005 and succeeded

Manuel Fraga Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who was also one of the founders of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance (AP). Fraga ...

as party president the following January. In the 2009 Galician regional election, the PPdeG won a majority and Feijóo became regional president. He won further terms in

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2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. In 2022, he was confirmed as Pablo Casado's successor as the president of the PP. He resigned his posts in the regional parliament and presidency, and was appointed to the Senate as one of the senators designated by the Galician parliament. He was described by the media as a moderate until his appointment as national party leader.

Early life and civil service

Feijóo was born at number 6 Avenida de Mesón in the village of Os Peares near A Peroxa in the

Province of Ourense Ourense (; ) is a province of Spain, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west, Lugo to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to Castile and León) to ...

, on 10 September 1961. His father was Saturnino Núñez, a construction foreman, and his mother Sira Feijóo. After graduating in law from the

University of Santiago de Compostela The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC (, ) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous o ...

in 1984, Núñez Feijóo wanted to become a judge, but his father's unemployment meant that he had to find a job in the civil service to support the family. In 1991, he was chosen to be secretary general of the regional Ministry of Agriculture under José Manuel Romay Beccaría. He followed him to the Ministry of Health, first in Galicia and later to the national ministry when Romay was appointed by prime minister

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 (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

. From 2000 to 2003, Feijóo was President of the State Society of Mail and Telegraphs, before returning to regional government as the Minister of Territorial Policy, Public Works and Housing of Galicia.

Political career

Galician politics

Having once voted for the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) under

Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a retired Spanish politician who was Prime Minister of Spain from 1982 to 1996 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. He is the longest-serving democratically- ...

, Feijóo did not join the People's Party until 1991. After his role in the national health service, the President of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, wanted him to lead the same ministry in her region. In 2005,

of the People's Party of Galicia was removed from office after 15 years as President of the Regional Government of Galicia (PPdeG), when the

Socialists' Party of Galicia The Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE; , ) is a centre-left political party in Galicia, Spain. It is the Galician affiliate of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). It defines itself as a Galicianist, social-democratic So ...

(PSdeG) and the

Galician Nationalist Bloc The Galician Nationalist Bloc ( , BNG) is a political party from Galicia (Spain), Galicia, formed with the merger of a series of left-wing Galician nationalism, Galician nationalist parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic Popular front, front" ...

(BNG) formed a coalition to install Emilio Pérez Touriño in his place. At the congress to name Fraga's successor in January 2006, he prevented a divide by persuading leading candidates Feijóo and José Manuel Barreiro to run in tandem as candidates for the party's president and vice president respectively, thereby taking 96% of the vote. In the 2009 Galician regional election, the PPdeG's share of seats rose from 37 to 38, thereby giving them an absolute majority of one. In April, he was invested as president by the 8th legislature. He won a second term in the

2012 Galician regional election A regional election was held in Galicia (Spain), Galicia on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 9th Parliament of Galicia, Parliament of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for electi ...

, which he had called early. Despite receiving over 100,000 votes fewer than in 2009, his party gained three seats due to reduced turnout. In March 2013, members of the opposition called for his resignation after photographs from the mid-1990s were published of him with Marcial Dorado, who was later convicted as a drug dealer. Feijóo said that at the time, he had no knowledge of Dorado's criminal lifestyle. Feijóo retained his majority in

and

, the latter time increasing to 42 seats. He was tipped to run to succeed

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 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

as national PP leader in 2018 but turned it down, crying while declaring that being President of Galicia was his highest ambition. He resigned as president of the PPdeG effective from 1 April 2022 to take over the post in the national party.

President of the People's Party

In March 2022, the 20th National Congress of the People's Party was called to elect a new national party leader after the forced ousting of incumbent Pablo Casado, who had been losing support following a dispute with the President of the Community of Madrid,

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 also the president of the People's Party of the Community of Madrid since 2022 ...

. Feijóo put himself forward as a candidate, and was endorsed by regional PP leaders such as Ayuso,

Jorge Azcón Jorge Antonio Azcón Navarro (born 21 November 1973) is a Spanish politician, serving as the President of the Government of Aragon since 2023. He is the president of the People's Party of Aragon. He was also a city councillor (2000–2007; 2011� ...

(Aragon), Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (Castile and León) and Juan Manuel Moreno (Andalusia). He ran unopposed as the only other prospective candidate, a 28-year-old local activist from Valencia, did not have enough verified signatures. He named the party's spokesperson in the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

, Cuca Gamarra, as the party's new Secretary General. During Feijóo's candidacy, the PP formed a government with Vox in the

Cortes of Castile and León The Cortes of Castile and León (Spanish: ''Cortes de Castilla y León'') is the elected unicameral legislature of the Autonomous Communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Castile and León. The tradition of the regional Cortes is traced ba ...

. He endorsed the coalition, but said that he would not repeat it on the national level: "sometimes it's better to lose government than win it through populism". As party president, Feijóo halted his predecessor's plans to sell the party headquarters on Calle de Génova. On 24 May 2022, Feijóo was elected by the Parliament of Galicia as

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the region, for which he resigned his seat in the

. A year later, he led his party in

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

elections. He attacked prime minister

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...

of the PSOE for relying on parliamentary support from

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

, a Basque nationalist party fielding 44 convicted

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

members as candidates, as well as for his government passing legislation on sexual consent that led to offenders having their sentences lowered or quashed. 2023_Spanish_election_-_Results

The PP achieved absolute majorities in the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, and took regions including

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

and the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

from the PSOE, leading Sánchez to call an early national election. The conservative party secured 137 seats, winning the elections but failing to achieve a parliamentary majority of 176 seats; however,

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

asked Feijóo to try to form government. On 23 August, Congress of Deputies' socialist speaker,

Francina Armengol Francesca Lluc Armengol Socias, known as Francina Armengol Socias (; born 11 August 1971), is a Spanish politician from the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands. She currently serves as president of the Congress of Deputies since 2023 Cortes ...

, announced that Feijóo's investiture debate would take place on 27 and 29 September. The debate's first vote failed, with 172 MPs voting in favor and 178 against; the second vote took place on 29 September, and it confirmed Feijóo's failure to become prime minister. Following the conservative's failure, Sánchez was voted in as PM as Feijóo and his party summoned Spaniards to the streets in

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

to the socialist's proposed

amnesty law An amnesty law is any legislative, constitutional or executive arrangement that retroactively exempts a select group of people, usually military leaders and government leaders, from criminal liability for the crimes that they committed. More speci ...

for Catalan independentists. After corruption cases rocked Sánchez, in January 2025, Feijoo opened the door to a motion of no confidence against Sánchez with the support of Vox and Junts, a Catalan independentist party headed by

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He has been the President of Together for Catalonia (Junts) since 2024, having previously held the office from 2020 to 2022. He served ...

, having previously refused speaking with the nationalists.

Political positions

Feijóo has defined himself as a

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

of the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

and as a liberal. He is described by the media as a moderate. His allies have praised him for his stances, while opposing parties disputed these labels due to his approval of a PP-led government with Vox in Castile and León.

Basque Nationalist Party

Feijóo is a close friend and ally of

Iñigo Urkullu Íñigo Urkullu Renteria (born 18 September 1961) is a Basque politician from Spain, and the Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Government from 2012 to 2024. As the President of the Basque Government, he headed the First Urkullu Government, ...

, the former President of the Basque Country from the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

(EAJ-PNV). The pair first found common ground in 2013 when they defended their shipyards before the European Union. While Casado opposed further devolution to the Basque Country, Feijóo has been more sympathetic.

Healthcare

In 2011, Feijóo suggested that hospital patients should pay for non-medical service such as food and showers during their stay, and the following year he suggested privatising all that is not at the "core" of healthcare. In 2013, he said that healthcare would not be privatised under his government.

Immigration

In 2024, he criticised the

immigration policy Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although the ...

of the Sánchez government, accusing Prime Minister

of "promoting Spain as a destination" instead of going to Africa to "fight the (migration) mafia".

Regional languages

Under Feijóo in 2009, the PPdeG dropped its support for the

Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...

, which had been supported by his predecessor and founder of the PP, Manuel Fraga. In 2019, it was reported that Galician was now mandatory for all teacher candidates in the region, though Feijóo had personally said that knowledge of it would be desired but not mandatory. This policy put him against a proposal by national PP leader Pablo Casado, in which no public job would require knowledge of a regional language. During the congress in which he was confirmed as PP president, he declared their language policy to be one of "cordial bilingualism".

Personal life

A 2009 profile of Feijóo by ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' observed that his personal life and spending habits were more austere than those of the previous regional president, Touriño. Feijóo was in a relationship with the journalist Carmen Gámir from 2000 to 2012. Since 2013 he has been in a relationship with Zara Home director Eva Cárdenas, who gave birth to his only child, also named Alberto, in February 2017. Feijóo is known as an admirer of

Galician cuisine Galician cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. These include shellfish, ''empanadas, polbo á feira'' (a dish made of octopus), cheese ''queixo de tetilla'', '' ...

and a supporter of the football club

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. Feijóo speaks Spanish and Galician while his English is considered poor. He was attacked for this by

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

, who argued that it is essential for a prime minister to speak fluent English. He replied that there are always translators at international summits. Feijóo is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...