Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca
First Vice-President of
the European Parliament
In office
30 July 2004 – 16 January 2007
PresidentJosep Borrell
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou
Member of the European Parliament for Spain
In office
13 June 1999 – 1 July 2014
Member of the Senate
In office
29 June 1996 – 28 August 1999
ConstituencyParliament of Catalonia
President of the People's Party of Catalonia
In office
9 January 1991 – 28 September 1996
Preceded byJorge Fernández Díaz
Succeeded byAlberto Fernández Díaz
Member of the Parliament of Catalonia for Barcelona
In office
29 May 1988 – 25 August 1996
Member of the Barcelona City Council
In office
10 June 1987 – 26 May 1991
Personal details
Born
Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca

(1945-05-20) 20 May 1945
Barcelona, Spain
Political partyVox (2014–2015)
Other political
affiliations		People's Alliance (1983–1989)
People's Party (1989–2014)

Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (born 20 May 1945) is a Spanish former politician and radiation physicist. Born in Barcelona, he served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and served as First Vice President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007.

Career

Vidal-Quadras was elected on the People's Party ticket and sat with the European People's Party group. In 2014, he announced that he was leaving the People's Party for a new party, Vox. He was the frontrunner for Vox in the 2014 European election, but the party failed to win a seat. It was through his contacts in the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) that the party received about one million euros to bootstrap its campaign.

After 2014, Vidal-Quadras operated pro bono the International Committee in Search of Justice, a Brussels-based lobby supporting the NCRI against the Iranian government.[1][2] In 2023, he was sanctioned by Iran for his connections with the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, accusing him of “supporting terrorism and terrorist groups”.[3] He is a member of the European Friends of Israel, a lobby group aiming to defend Israel's interests within the European Union.[4]

Assassination attempt

On 9 November 2023, Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face in Madrid[5] by a person on a motorbike in Calle de Núñez de Balboa at 1:30 p.m. local time.[3][6] He was taken to hospital and was described as recovering after suffering a fracture on his jawbone that required surgery.[3] The suspects currently remain at large, with police also investigating for a possible motive. The assassination attempt is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack.[7][8] On November 21, Spanish police arrested three people in connection to the shooting.[9]

Vidal-Quadras has claimed that Iran was behind the assassination attempt.[10] According to Vidal-Quadras, his connection to the Iranian opposition the National Council of Resistance of Iran could be linked the assassination attempt.[11] Vidal-Quadras is one of the first politicians that Tehran has added to their terrorist list.[12] The Iranian opposition attributes the authorship to Religious Fascism that governs the country.[13][14]

In 2019 Vidal-Quadras stated that he considers the Iranian regime a cruel dictatorship which foments terrorism.[15]

Political positions

Alejo Vidal-Quadras defines himself as liberal-conservative. He is opposed to abortion rights[16] and gay marriage.

Personal life

He currently lives off his pensions as a former university professor and a former member of the European Parliament.[1] In addition to serving in the European Parliament, he has occupied several elected positions in Spain: he was a member of the Barcelona City Council (1987–1991), member of the Parliament of Catalonia (1988–1996) and Senator in the Spanish Senate (1996–1999).

References

  1. 1 2 Suanzes, Pablo R. (23 January 2019). "Alejo Vidal-Quadras, fundador de Vox: "Abascal sabía que el dinero era iraní y le parecía muy bien"". ELMUNDO (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "The Committee". International Committee In Search of Justice. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021. PRESIDENT Alejo Vidal Quadras
  3. 1 2 3 "Spanish conservative politician shot in face in Madrid. Gunman escaped on a motorbike, reports say". AP News. 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  4. ↑ "Políticos españoles se unen al movimiento más poderoso de Amigos Europeos por Israel". 3 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Fahey, Ryan (2023-11-09). "Politician shot in the face in busy city centre by brazen gunman on motorbike". The Mirror. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  6. ↑ "Herido grave en Madrid Alejo Vidal-Quadras, ex presidente del PP de Cataluña y fundador de VOX, tras recibir un disparo en la cara". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  7. ↑ "Attempted murder of right wing Spanish politician being investigated as "terrorist" incident". Politico. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  8. ↑ "La Audiencia Nacional investiga el disparo a Vidal-Quadras como un delito de terrorismo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  9. ↑ "Three arrested over shooting of former rightwing politician in Madrid". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "La Policía investiga si Irán está tras el intento de asesinato a Vidal-Quadras". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  11. ↑ "Vidal-Quadras y otros dos políticos españoles están en la "lista de terroristas" del régimen de Irán por apoyar el CNRI". ELECONOMISTA (in Spanish). 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  12. ↑ "Intento de asesinato a Vidal-Quadras: la sospecha iraní, un pistolero "profesional" y un giro de cuello que le pudo salvar la vida". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  13. ↑ "Conference at the European Parliament, Strasbourg". Maryam Rajavi. 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  14. ↑ "Spanish far-right politician shot in the face suspects a link to his work with Iranian opposition". AP News. 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  15. ↑ "Po que Vidal-Quadras responsibiliza a Iran del disparo sufrido en Madrid?". 20MINUTOS (in Spanish). 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  16. ↑ "Vidal-Quadras acusa a los socialistas de destruir con su política del aborto". www.larazon.es. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
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