Esperanza Aguirre strikes again: blames Rajoy for the rise of Vox and reignites internal war in the PP

It’s hard to believe, but every time Esperanza Aguirre speaks, the Partido Popular braces for impact. The former undisputed leader of the PP in Madrid and ex-regional president has once again decided to shake the party’s foundations with statements that have left no one unscathed. This time, the spotlight isn’t just on her protégé, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, but directly on former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The civil war on the Spanish right is not only far from over—it has reignited with unexpected ferocity.

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

What Aguirre has let loose in recent hours is nothing short of an earthquake. According to sources close to the former leader, her diagnosis is ruthless: the rise and subsequent success of Vox is neither a fluke nor a stroke of genius by its founders, but a power vacuum left, in her own words, by the PP leadership under Mariano Rajoy. “If there hadn’t been a government dedicated to erasing the core identity of the centre-right, another party wouldn’t have had to fill that space,” she effectively argues in political circles.

For her, Rajoy’s timidity during his years in La Moncloa was the perfect breeding ground. The sense among many PP voters that “nothing was being done” in the face of territorial challenges or the handling of certain issues led 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 would not exist as we know it today. It’s a direct, unambiguous accusation that exposes the long-festering internal fracture.

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

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

In the midst of this verbal offensive, Aguirre also wanted to clarify her position regarding Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Far from the gossip about a cold distance between them, Aguirre insists her relationship with the current regional chief is one of full complicity. But the most tantalising part came when she spoke about the national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. As she reportedly confessed among her inner circle, there was a moment when she could have positioned herself as the main alternative to the current leadership, but decided against it, thus allowing Feijóo to consolidate his leadership without a fierce internal contest. “I could have been the one there, but I chose a different path,” she effectively stated, hinting that without that personal decision, the post-Rajoy history of the PP 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 upcoming election cycles. But Esperanza Aguirre’s shadow looms large, and her words resonate with the weight of someone who was, for years, the sole voice daring to challenge the stagnation of the Rajoy era. For many, her analysis of Vox’s origins is a stark wake-up call. For others, it’s simply confirmation that the former leader remains a master strategist, moving pieces from the sidelines to position her allies and set the agenda.

Resurrection or settling scores?

What is clear is that Spanish politics, especially the centre-right space, cannot afford to take its eyes off what Aguirre says. Her latest remarks are not mere venting, but a bitter diagnosis of what she considers a historic mistake. By targeting Rajoy, she not only vindicates her own career but also legitimises the radical shift embodied by Ayuso and Vox as a necessary, almost organic, response to what she views as an era of “betrayal” of principles.

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