Esperanza Aguirre renews her attack: blames Rajoy for the birth of Vox and ignites a civil war in the PP

Incredible as it may seem, every time Esperanza Aguirre speaks, the Partido Popular trembles. The former undisputed leader of the PP in Madrid and regional president has decided, once again, to rattle the party's foundations with comments that have left no one unscathed. And this time, the spotlight isn't just on her protégé, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, but is aimed squarely at the former prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. The civil war on the Spanish right is not only far from over, it's flaring up again with unexpected ferocity.

“Rajoy took us to the brink”: the origins of the Vox tsunami

What Aguirre has let slip in recent hours is, to say the least, a bombshell. According to sources close to the former president, her assessment is damning: the emergence and subsequent success of Vox is not a matter of chance or the brilliance of its founders, but rather a power vacuum left, in her words, by the PP leadership under Mariano Rajoy. “If there hadn't been a government that set about erasing the centre-right's defining identity, someone else wouldn't have had to fill that space,” is the gist of what she’s saying in political circles.

For her, Rajoy's lack of resolve during his time in La Moncloa was the perfect breeding ground. The feeling among many conservative voters that “nothing was being done” in response to regional challenges or the handling of certain issues pushed a segment of the electorate to seek a more combative home. And this is where Esperanza Aguirre stirs the pot: without Rajoy's leadership, Vox simply wouldn't exist as we know it today. It's a direct, unvarnished accusation that lays bare the internal rift that has never fully healed.

• Criticism of Rajoy: Aguirre accuses him of having “squandered” Aznar's legacy and leaving right-wing voters feeling abandoned.
• The Ayuso effect: Amidst this storm, the current Madrid regional president emerges strengthened as the natural heir to that more combative spirit.
• Feijóo's secret: The former president reveals she could have been the “brake” on the current national leader, but chose to take a back seat instead.

Loyalty (and the dagger) with Ayuso and Feijóo's complex role

In the midst of this verbal offensive, Aguirre has also sought to clarify her position regarding Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Dismissing the gossip about a frosty distance between them, Aguirre insists her relationship with the current regional leader is one of total complicity. But the most tantalising part came when she spoke about the national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. According to what she confided to those close to her, there was a moment when she could have positioned herself as the main alternative to the current leadership, but she decided against it, allowing Feijóo to consolidate his leadership without facing a fierce internal battle. “I could have been the one there, but I chose a different path,” she effectively said, hinting that had it not been for that personal decision, the PP's post-Rajoy history might have been very different.

These revelations are far from innocent. They come at a time when the PP is trying to project unity ahead of the upcoming election cycles. But Esperanza Aguirre’s shadow is long, and her words carry the weight of someone who, for years, was the only voice willing to challenge the inertia of the Rajoy era. For many, her analysis of Vox's origins is a wake-up call. For others, it’s simply confirmation that the former president remains a master strategist, pulling strings from the sidelines to position her allies and set the agenda.

Resurrection or a settling of scores?

What is clear is that Spanish politics, and particularly the centre-right space, can't afford to ignore whatever Aguirre says. Her latest remarks are not merely an outburst, but a bitter diagnosis of what she considers a historical mistake. By going after Rajoy, she is not only vindicating her own career but also legitimising the radical shift embodied by Ayuso and Vox as a necessary, almost organic, response to an era she views as a “betrayal” of core principles.

While Feijóo attempts to navigate these turbulent waters, Esperanza Aguirre once again places herself at the centre of the storm, proving that her voice, even without an institutional role, remains one of the most reliable barometers for gauging the temperature of the PP’s internal conflict. The narrative is set: Rajoy created the conditions for a monster to be born that now devours votes on the right, and she, alongside Ayuso, are the only ones who saw it coming and fought it. The rest, as always, is a story that will continue to be written with incendiary statements.