Mariano Rajoy

Mariano Rajoy is the current leader of Spain's major opposition party, the conservative People's Party Spain. He also served as the Vice-President of Spain from 2000 to 2003.

Rajoy served as Minister of Public Administration and Minister of Education and Culture in the 1990s, before being named the Spanish Vice-President in 2000. In 2004, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar announced he was retiring and offered Rajoy as his successor.

Just days before the election was to be held, bombs placed on commuter trains in Madrid exploded, killing 191 people and injuring over 1,700. Rajoy's People's Party initially blamed the attacks on Basque separatists, although the perpetrators later turned out to be members of a Spanish cell of Al Qaeda. Many observers believe that the People's Party's efforts to convince voters that the attacks were a domestic issue, rather than the possible outcome of the government's support for the Iraq War, cost them the election. In 2008, Rajoy's party again lost in nationwide elections. He continues to be the leader of the opposition party in the Spanish Parliament.