Founded in 1976 by former Franco minister Manuel Fraga as an alliance of post-Francoist parties, it holds the most seats out of any single party in the Spanish Congress, however, it is not a member of the ruling coalition. It is currently led by the former leader of the Xunta of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Former prime ministers of Spain Jose Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, belonged to the PP. It espouses a conservative-liberal and Christian Democratic ideology. The party also maintains a strong stance against separatism from the Basque, Catalan, and Galician regions, and supports the continued judicial prosecution of separatist leaders. Many members of the other right-wing parties in Spain, such as Ciudadanos and Vox, are former members of the party.
The party maintains an extensive network of international alliances and contacts. It is a member of both the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) and the International Democrat Union, with one of its MEPs, Antonio López-Istúriz White, serving as general secretary of the CDI. It is also affiliated with the European People’s Party, of which it is currently the second-largest single party within the group, and it may become the single-biggest party after the upcoming 2024 European election. As such, it holds influential positions within the EPP, holding the position of secretary general from 2002–2022, with another MEP, Esteban González Pons, being appointed Vice President of the group after it was taken over by Manfred Weber. The party’s neoconservative wing also used to maintain extensive contacts in the United States with both Democrats and Republicans. But after much of that faction left the party to form VOX, it lost most of its contacts with Republicans. PP’s shift to the right in recent years means that it is growing more distant from its contacts with Democrats.
As a Spanish-speaking country, the party also maintains relationships with right-wing movements throughout Latin America. This is primarily through the party’s de facto think tank, FAES, headed by former leader Jose Aznar. The PP supported various parties linked with the ola conservadora throughout Latin America, such as Felipe Calderón and Sebastián Piñera.
However, as the right throughout Latin America has radicalized, these links have grown weaker, with many right-wing movements instead choosing to sign on to the VOX-affiliated Foro Madrid. With the Partido Popular’s shift to the right and VOX’s recent difficulties in the polls, they may be able to regain a position of influence in Latin America, although it will almost certainly be because the politics of the party are growing closer to that of Vox.
