Pablo Casado

Casado was born on 1 February 1981 in Palencia; he has five brothers. His father, Miguel Casado González,{{Cite web|url=https://www.elplural.com/politica/los-genoveses/pablo-casado-biografia-genoveses-presidente-partido-popular_107772102|title=Pablo Casado: la biografía no oficial|website=El Plural|language=es|access-date=2019-03-07}} was a doctor and his mother, Esther Blanco Ruiz, a nursing university professor. His family owns an ophthalmologic clinic in his native city. He studied at the Colegio Castilla, managed by the Marist Brothers, and took the 8th year of the General Basic Education (EGB) at Douai School in the United Kingdom.{{cite journal |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.es/2015/08/05/pablo-casado_n_7941228.html |title=27 cosas que no sabías de Pablo Casado |first=Antonio |last=Ruiz Valdivia |date=5 August 2015 |journal=El Huffington Post |language=Es |access-date=21 February 2019 |publisher=España Prisa Noticias S.L.U.}}

Casado started his university studies in law at the ICADE (a centre located in Madrid and integrated within the Universidad Pontificia Comillas) in 1999, but he switched to another centre in 2004,{{cite news |url=http://www.elmundo.es/espana/2018/05/16/5afaedb746163f8c788b45c0.html |newspaper=El Mundo |date=16 May 2018 |title=Pablo Casado aprobó de golpe media carrera el curso que logró el escaño |first1=Quico |last1=Alsedo |first2=Pablo |last2=Herraiz |access-date=21 February 2019 |publisher=Unidad Editorial Información General |language=es}}{{refn|group="n"|In 2000, at age 19, Casado authored "Lupus Ahujus", a piece in El búho, the journal of the residential college he was enrolled in, the Colegio Mayor Elías Ahúja,{{Cite journal|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190214/46469148600/sale-a-luz-texto-machista-casado.html|journal=La Vanguardia|title=Sale a luz un texto machista de Casado que escribió en una revista de su colegio mayor|date=14 February 2019}} purposely describing in an humouristic way the pattern of behaviour of the male contingent of residents of the Colegio Mayor Elías Ahúja that he was part of. Through the metaphorical identification of the members of the Colegio Mayor Elías Ahúja with a fictional species of wolf, the Lupus Ahujus, Casado boasted about the Lupus Ahujus being a "rather evolved" species with superior craneal mass compared to other species, and encouraged to go out in pack preying female "wolves" (the most cherished prey), or in a situation of shortage also female pigs, foxes or hens.{{Cite journal|journal=Ara|title=El text masclista que va escriure Casado quan tenia 19 anys|date=14 February 2019|url=https://www.ara.cat/politica/text-masclista-escriure-Casado-tenia_0_2180182245.html}} This has been identified with elements of the rape culture.{{Cite journal|journal=La Marea|url=https://www.lamarea.com/2019/02/14/el-texto-machista-y-racista-de-pablo-casado-en-el-que-ironizaba-con-cazas-de-lobas-y-zorras/|title=El texto machista y racista de Pablo Casado en el que ironizaba con cazas de "lobas y zorras"|date=14 February 2019}} The text also labelled Romanian and Polish wolf subspecies as a "marginal chaste".{{Cite journal|journal=Deia|url=https://www.deia.eus/2019/02/14/ocio-y-cultura/comunicacion/el-texto-de-un-joven-pablo-casado-|title=El texto machista de un joven Pablo Casado causa indignación en las redes|date=14 February 2019}}}} enrolling in the CES Cardenal Cisneros, a privately managed centre owned by a foundation of the Community of Madrid and attached (for the purpose of the issuance of the degree) to the public Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). He ultimately obtained his degree in law in the CES Cardenal Cisneros in September 2007 after having reportedly passed half of the credits of the 5-year licenciature in four months of that year. The centre issued a statement where they denied accusations of impropriety or preferential treatment regarding the student Casado.{{Cite journal|journal=20minutos.es|title=El CES Cardenal Cisneros niega "trato preferente" a Casado y que haya podido aprobar sin examinarse|date=16 May 2018|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/3341432/0/ces-cardenal-cisneros-niega-trato-preferente-casado/}}

Casado has a BA in Business Administration and Management and an MA in Administrative Law from the King Juan Carlos University (URJC).Congress of Deputies. [http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/Diputados/BusqForm?_piref73_1333155_73_1333154_1333154.next_page=/wc/fichaDiputado&idLegislatura=10&idDiputado=7 "X Legislatura: Casado Blanco, Pablo"]. Retrieved 10 October 2017 {{in lang|es}}. The latter degree is a source of significant controversy, as Casado was found to have obtained it from the now controverted School of Administrative Law of that university without ever attending any class, taking any test, and turning in a final dissertation.[https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2018/07/03/actualidad/1530621134_654868.html Dos alumnos del máster de Casado le contradicen: era obligatorio ir a clase y hacer trabajo final] An internal investigation by the URJC confirmed that the degrees were legitimate and uncovered no impropriety.{{cite web |agency=Europa Press |title=La URJC archiva la investigación sobre la licenciatura de Pablo Casado al no detectar irregularidades |date=21 September 2018 |url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/3445030/0/urjc-archiva-investigacion-sobre-licenciatura-ade-casado-tras-no-detectar-irregularidades/ |publisher=21 September 2018 |access-date=9 October 2019}}

Casado has said that he also earned a postgraduate degree at Harvard University; he had in fact attended a four-day course in 2008 at the Madrid campus of IESE Business School which is allied with Harvard Business School. No academic requirements were needed to attend the course, and attendance was the only requirement for completion.{{cite news |url=https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/posgrado-Harvard-Pablo-Casado-Aravaca_0_760125210.html |title=El "posgrado en Harvard" de Pablo Casado fue un curso de cuatro días en Aravaca |newspaper=El Diario |date=12 April 2018 |access-date=21 February 2019 |first=Ignacio |last=Escolar |author-link=Ignacio Escolar |language=es}} The Supreme Court of Spain decided in September 2019 that he did not evidently violate laws against prevarication or bribery, but said the matter “could deserve other types of consideration outside criminal law."{{cite news |last1=Rincón |first1=Reyes |title=El Supremo rechaza investigar a Pablo Casado por su máster |newspaper=El País |date=29 September 2018 |url=https://elpais.com/politica/2018/09/28/actualidad/1538129678_418567.html |access-date=9 October 2019}}Huerga, Luis. [https://www.eldiario.es/castilla-y-leon/casado-pocos-supremo-expediente-intachable_1_1651992.amp.html ”Casado asegura que la sentencia del Supremo que vio trato de favor en su máster avala que su expediente es ‘intachable’”], eldiario.es (14 Mar 2019).

Casado entered politics and joined the People's Party (PP) in 2003 when he was still a student.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20180705/45706496595/casado-el-joven-que-vencio-a-la-todopoderosa-cospedal.html|title=Casado, el joven que venció a la todopoderosa Cospedal|date=5 July 2018|journal=La Vanguardia}}{{Cite journal|url=http://www.tiempodehoy.com/espana/el-pablo-de-rajoy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712224209/http://www.tiempodehoy.com/espana/el-pablo-de-rajoy|archive-date=2018-07-12|first=Cristina de la|journal=Tiempo|last=Hoz|date=26 January 2015|title=El Pablo de Rajoy}} He presided over the regional branch of the PP's youth organization in the Community of Madrid, known as the New Generations (NNGG), between 2005 and 2013.{{cite journal |url=http://www.elmundo.es/loc/2015/01/16/54b7bcb3268e3e5d718b456b.html |title=Así es Pablo Casado, la nueva sensación del PP |first=Adriano|last=Silva|journal=El Mundo |date=16 January 2015}}{{cite journal |url=http://elpais.com/diario/2005/05/29/madrid/1117365854_850215.html |title=Pablo Casado, elegido presidente de Nuevas Generaciones|journal=El País |date=29 May 2005 }}{{cite web |url=http://cadenaser.com/ser/2013/10/30/espana/1383094229_850215.html |publisher=Cadena SER |first=María Jesús|last=Güemes |date=30 October 2013 |title=Pablo Casado trabajará en el PP nacional}} He made an initiation journey to Cuba in early 2007 (similar to the 2012 travel by his right-hand in the Madrilenian NNGG Ángel Carromero),{{refn|group="n"|Casado, who was the first member of the PP (along Esperanza Aguirre) to visit Carromero in prison after the car crash in which Payá died, was accused by the Cuban media of allegedly instigating the 2012 journey of Carromero and of being in the service of the Cuban opposition in Miami.{{cite journal|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1800079/0/carromero/viaje/cuba/ |title=El último viaje de Carromero |date=3 May 2013 |journal=20minutos |first1=D.|last1=Fernández |first2=Á. |last2=Calleja }}}} where he met with Cuban dissidents such as Oswaldo Payá. He left written testimony of it in pieces published in Libertad Digital and El Mundo.{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2012/08/05/actualidad/1344123875_364440.html |title=Viaje iniciático de un cachorro del PP |first=Luis|last=Gómez|journal=El País |date=5 August 2012}}{{Cite journal |url=http://www.hoy.es/sociedad/201506/28/cachorro-aventajado-aznar-20150628004153-v.html |journal=Hoy|date=28 June 2015 |title=El cachorro aventajado de Aznar |first=Antonio|last=Corbillón}}File:Escuela de verano NNGG Madrid 2010 - Esperanza Aguirre, Ángel Carromero.jpg (No. 2 numbered shirt) next to Esperanza Aguirre during a summer event of the Madrilenian "New Generations" in 2010]]

In 2007, he was included as candidate in the PP list for the election to the Assembly of Madrid; he became a member of the 8th term of the regional legislature (in June),{{cite web|url=http://www.asambleamadrid.es/ES/QueEsLaAsamblea/Historia/Legislaturasanteriores/Paginas/08/Relacion-de-Diputados-Grupo-Popular.aspx|title=Relación de diputados de la VIII legislatura del Grupo Parlamentario Popular|publisher=Assembly of Madrid|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181204/http://www.asambleamadrid.es/ES/QueEsLaAsamblea/Historia/Legislaturasanteriores/Paginas/08/Relacion-de-Diputados-Grupo-Popular.aspx|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}} where he held the functions of spokesman in the parliamentary Commission of Justice and Public Administrations and assistant spokesman in the Commission of Budget and Finance.{{cite web |url=http://www.asambleamadrid.es/ES/QueEsLaAsamblea/ComposiciondelaAsamblea/Distribuciondeescanos/Paginas/curriculum.aspx?IdDip=228 |title=Ilmo. Sr. D. Pablo Casado Blanco |publisher=Assembly of Madrid |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721193857/http://www.asambleamadrid.es/ES/QueEsLaAsamblea/ComposiciondelaAsamblea/Distribuciondeescanos/Paginas/curriculum.aspx?IdDip=228 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}

Casado resigned as regional legislator in July 2009.{{cite journal |publisher=Assembly of Madrid |date=23 July 2009 |title=5.1 Constitución, Composición y Designación de los Miembros y Órganos de la Cámara |journal=Boletín Oficial de la Asamblea de Madrid |volume=VIII Legislatura |issue=145 |page=13115 |issn=1131-7043 |url=http://www.asambleamadrid.es/BOAM/BOAM_8_00145.pdf |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073901/http://www.asambleamadrid.es/BOAM/BOAM_8_00145.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} In June 2009, he married Isabel Torres Orts;{{Cite journal|url=http://www.diarioinformacion.com/elche/2009/06/21/boda-altura/901017.html |journal=Diario Información|title=Una boda de altura |date=21 June 2009}} the couple have a daughter Paloma and a son Pablo.{{Cite journal|journal=El Español |url=https://www.elespanol.com/corazon/famosos/20170505/213728728_0.html |date=5 May 2017 |title=Diez cosas que no sabías de Pablo Casado, favorito a candidato del PP a la alcaldía de Madrid|first=Cristina|last=Rodrigo}} Isabel Torres is from a wealthy industrial family in Elche, and works as a psychologist in a private clinic in Madrid.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20180901/451549765467/isabel-torres-psicologa-pablo-casado-pp.html|title=Isabel Torres, la psicóloga que acompaña al nuevo líder del PP|date=2018-08-31|website=La Vanguardia|access-date=2019-03-07}}

Between 2009 and 2012, Casado directed the office of former Prime Minister José María Aznar. During this period, in 2010, he became one of the founders (along with Carlos Bustelo, Rafael Bardají and Enrique Navarro Gil) of the Friends of Israel Initiative think tank.{{Cite journal|journal=El Plural |title=Pablo Casado, ultraliberal, anticastrista, antiprogresista... y encendido prosionista |first=F.|last=Medina |date=15 January 2015 |url=https://www.elplural.com/2015/01/15/pablo-casado-ultraliberal-anticastrista-antiprogresista-y-encendido-prosionista}}{{Cite journal|url=https://boe.es/boe/dias/2010/11/22/pdfs/BOE-A-2010-17951.pdf |title=Orden CUL/2994/2010, de 27 de octubre, por la que se inscribe en el Registro de Fundaciones la Fundación Friends of Israel Initiative |issue=282|date=22 November 2010 |journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado}}

File:Rueda de prensa de Pablo Casado 2017.jpg

Casado was included as candidate in the PP list for the constituency of Ávila in the November 2011 general election and became a member of the Congress of Deputies. He was subsequently re-elected in the 2015 and 2016 general elections. He was designated spokesman of the Campaign Committee of the PP for the local and regional elections of May 2015.{{cite journal |url=http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2015/01/12/actualidad/1421060252_531224.html |journal=El País |date=12 January 2015 |title=Carlos Floriano será el director de campaña del PP para las elecciones |first=Carlos E.|last=Cué }}{{cite journal |url=http://www.libertaddigital.com/espana/politica/2015-01-12/rajoy-vuelve-a-elegir-a-carlos-floriano-como-director-de-campana-1276537859 |journal=Libertad Digital|date=12 January 2015 |title=Carlos Floriano dirigirá la campaña del PP y Pablo Casado será portavoz}} Later in June 2015, he was appointed vice secretary general of communication of the PP by the party president Mariano Rajoy.{{cite web |url=http://www.cope.es/detalle/rajoy-anuncia-cambios-en-el-pp.html|date=18 June 2015 |publisher=Cadena COPE|title=Pablo Casado vicesecretario de Comunicación y Martínez Maíllo de Organización}}

On 9 October 2017, Casado made a comment about the former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, alluding that should Puigdemont declare Catalan independence, he could end up like Lluís Companys, who was imprisoned by the Spanish Second Republic. As his words seemed to suggest that he referred to Companys' execution by Francoist Spain in 1940, Casado later clarified that he was referring to his imprisonment by the democratic Second Republic.{{refn|group="n"|Companys declared "the Catalan state within the Spanish Republic" in 1934 and was sentenced by the Court of Constitutional Guarantees of the Spanish Republic to 30 years of prison for rebellion;{{Cite journal|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/534952/0/republica/catalana/companys/|date=6 October 2009|title=Hace 75 años que el ex president Lluís Companys proclamó el "Estado catalán"|journal=20minutos}}{{Cite journal|journal=Eldiario.es|url=https://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/politica/refiere-Pablo-Casado-acabar-Companys_0_695381219.html|title=Companys: detenido en el 34, amnistiado por el Frente Popular y fusilado por el franquismo|first=Sergi|last=Franch|date=9 October 2017}} later in 1936, he was amnestied by the government of the Popular Front and returned to the Generalitat of Catalonia. After the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Companys, while in exile, was captured in France by the Nazi police in 1940 and sent back to Spain where he was tortured and later executed by Francisco Franco's authorities. Casado later stated that his remarks were referring to only the 1934 imprisonment of Companys, not to his execution in 1940.Stothard, Michael (9 October 2017). [https://www.ft.com/content/ae1fca4c-acd0-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130 "Madrid warns of jail risk for Catalan leader"]. Financial Times. Retrieved 10 October 2017.{{Cite news|url=http://www.eldiario.es/politica/Declaraciones-Pablo-Casado_0_695381110.html|title=Esto es lo que ha dicho Pablo Casado sobre Companys|work=eldiario.es|access-date=2017-10-10|language=es}}Fotheringham, Alasdair (10 October 2017). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catalonia-referendum-independence-spain-jail-carles-puigdemont-threat-leader-latest-a7991191.html "Spanish ruling party threatens to jail Catalan leader if he declares independence"]. The Independent. Retrieved 10 October 2017.}}

File:19 Congreso Extraordinario PP. 21 de julio de 2019. AACU8985 (42868455984).jpg

After the motion of no confidence, Mariano Rajoy resigned from the leadership of the PP, Pablo Casado ran as pre-candidate to the primary election to the presidency of the party. He introduced himself as a (potential) leader intending to recover voters from Citizens and Vox.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Casado-anuncia-presenta-liderar-PP_0_783571767.html|journal=Eldiario.es|first=Íñigo|last=Aduriz|title=Pablo Casado se presenta como candidato "de integración" para liderar el PP y "recuperar" a votantes "de Cs o VOX"|date=18 June 2018}} Casado obtained the second most votes out of 6 candidates after Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, former Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, who received the most votes among the party members with a margin of 1,500 votes. On July 21, 2018, during the 19th Extraordinary National Congress of the PP, a final vote among 3,082 party delegates was held in order to decide the new leader of the PP between Sáenz de Santamaría and Casado.{{cite news |date=5 July 2018 |title=Resultados definitivos primarias PP |url=http://www.pp.es/sites/default/files/documentos/resultados_definitivos.pdf |work=La Vanguardia |language=es |access-date=17 July 2018}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Casado-secretario-integracion-Santamaria-Cospedal_0_795120693.html|journal=Eldiario.es|title=Casado no desvela su secretario general para una "integración real" con Santamaría y suma a cargos de Cospedal|date=21 July 2018}} He won the voting among the delegates with 1,701 votes (57,2%) versus 1,250 (42%) votes to Sáenz de Santamaría out of 2,973 votes, being proclaimed as the new president, in what was considered a party swing towards the right,{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/politica/2018/07/21/actualidad/1532157539_615979.html|journal=El País|title=Pablo Casado vence en el congreso del PP y consuma el giro a la derecha|date=21 July 2018|first=Natalia|last=Junquera}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/22/spanish-peoples-party-shifts-to-right-with-new-leader|journal=The Guardian|title=Spanish People's party shifts to right with new leader|first=Sam|last=Jones|date=22 July 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1KB0IB-OCATP|title=Spain's conservatives swing to the right with new leader|date=21 July 2018|publisher=Reuters|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322065631/https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN1KB0IB-OCATP|archive-date=22 March 2019|url-status=dead}} as well as a hardline conservative.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiocable.com/nm-pp-giro-derecha-casado-linea-dura8542.html|title=La prensa global señala el giro a la derecha del PP con Casado, un "conservador de línea dura"|date=23 July 2018|work=Radiocable}}

In response to a budget defeat, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez dissolved the Cortes Generales,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/15/spanish-prime-minister-calls-snap-election-after-budget-fails-to-pass.html|title=Spanish prime minister calls snap election after budget fails to pass|last=Reid|first=David|date=15 February 2019|website=www.cnbc.com|access-date=10 April 2019}} giving Casado an early test of his leadership, which was also in the aftermath of the first right-of-centre government in Andalucia.{{cite news |date=6 May 2019 |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/andalucia/2019-01-21/juanma-moreno-gobierno-consejeros-andalucia_1771610/ |title=Moreno presenta a su gabinete y avisa: "El Gobierno es uno, sin distinción de siglas" |language=es |work=El Confidencial |access-date=6 May 2019}} The election results proved disappointing for Casado, his party losing over half of their seats in the Cortes Generales, with Albert Rivera's Citizens, overtaking them as the foremost party of the centre-right in many regions of Spain, and the new far-right Vox also taking a significant number of voters.{{cite news |date=28 April 2019 |url=https://elpais.com/politica/2019/04/28/actualidad/1556466636_096682.html |title=El PSOE gana las elecciones pero necesitará pactar y el PP sufre una debacle histórica |work=El País |language=es |access-date=30 April 2019}}{{cite news |date=29 April 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/29/spain-socialist-psoe-victory-without-majority-podemos-peoples-party-far-right |title=Spain's socialist PSOE party mulls next move after victory without majority |work=The Guardian |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}} This major loss was devastating for Casado and for the 2019 election campaign manager, Javier Maroto, who not only lost his seat in the Basque country to EH Bildu, but was fired by PP.{{cite news |date=30 April 2019 |url=https://www.libertaddigital.com/espana/2019-04-30/maroto-relegado-como-director-de-campana-tras-el-fracaso-del-pp-en-las-urnas-1276637522/ |title=Maroto, relegado como director de campaña tras el fracaso del PP en las urnas |work=Libertad Digital |language=es |access-date=30 April 2019}} Casado refused to resign; many members' worries about his controversial leadership, described as "a suicide",{{cite news |date=29 April 2019|url=https://blogs.elconfidencial.com/espana/notebook/2019-04-29/elecciones-generales-sanchez-gana-derecha-suicida_1970682/ |title=Sánchez gana y la derecha se suicida |work=El Confidencial |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}} were confirmed in light of the defeat, as he has now U-turned back to the political centre,{{cite news |date=28 April 2019 |url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Casado-PP-resultado-autonomicas-municipales_0_893461244.html |title=Casado hunde al PP con el peor resultado de su historia y no dimite a un mes de las autonómicas y municipales |work=eldiario.es |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}}{{cite news |date=4 May 2019 |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/elecciones-municipales-y-autonomicas/2019-05-04/feijoo-y-casado-escenifican-en-galicia-el-viraje-al-centro-del-pp_1981538/ |title=Feijóo y Casado escenifican en Galicia el viraje al centro del PP: "Aquí cabemos todos" |work=El Confidencial |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}} placing much of the blame of the loss on Cs and Vox for splintering the vote.{{cite news |date=30 April 2019 |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2019-04-30/pp-casado-elecciones-lema-centro-genova_1975182/ |title=Casado se proclama representante único del centro derecha y carga contra Cs y Vox |work=El Confidencial |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}}{{cite news |date=3 May 2019 |url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/deriva-batalla-campal-derechas-elecciones_0_895210701.html |title=El 28A deriva en una batalla campal entre las tres derechas a menos de un mes de otras elecciones |work=eldiario.es |language=es |access-date=4 May 2019}}

Casado adopted an active role during the COVID-19 lockdown, refraining from restricting public activities, visiting disparate locations such as Mercamadrid, a hotel, a sheep farm and the headquarters of the association of vehicle producers; he proceeded to criticise the Government of Spain from those platforms.{{Cite web|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/IFEMA-Mercamadrid-Casado-Gobierno-confinamiento_0_1022597907.html|website=eldiario.es|title=IFEMA, Mercamadrid, un hotel y una granja de ovejas: la gira de Casado para atacar al Gobierno en el confinamiento|date=2 May 2020|first=Iñigo|last=Aduriz}} Nevertheless, under Casado’s leadership, the PP made a significant recovery in the November 2019 general election, increasing its representation from 66 to 89 seats and reasserting itself as the main opposition force.{{cite web|access-date=1 February 2025 |date=10 November 2019 |language=es |publisher=El País |title=El PP sube hasta los 89 escaños en las elecciones de noviembre |url=https://elpais.com/politica/2019/11/10/actualidad/1573407061_569279.html}} In May 2020, he established abstention on the vote on the extension of the State of Alarm as the party line.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20200506/481000775744/coronavirus-estado-de-alarma-congreso-pp-abstencion-casado.html|website=La Vanguardia|title=Casado anuncia la abstención del PP pero advierte que votará en contra si quiere más prórrogas|date=6 May 2020|first=Carmen del|last=Riego}}

His leadership of the PP was challenged in 2022 by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the popular president of the community of Madrid, leading to a dramatic internal conflict. Ayuso went so far as to accuse Casado of maneuvering to "destroy" her. A large number of PP leaders and activists demanded Casado resign, but he refused. The president of Galicia, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, considered the most respected figure in the PP, said that "the situation is unsustainable. Pablo Casado's reign is coming to an end. We have to make difficult decisions."{{Cite web|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/guerra-casado-ayuso-abre-mayor-crisis-historia-pp_1_8758383.html|title = La guerra entre Casado y Ayuso abre la mayor crisis en la historia del PP|date = 17 February 2022}} Casado resigned as PP leader and an MP on 4 April, and was replaced as party leader by Feijóo.{{cite news |last1=White |first1=Cristina Tomàs |title=Pablo Casado steps down as head of People's Party and quits politics |url=https://www.catalannews.com/politics/item/pablo-casado-steps-down-as-head-of-people-s-party-and-quits-politics |work=www.catalannews.com |language=en-gb}} In his farewell address to party members, Casado emphasized his loyalty to the PP and appealed for unity, expressing hope that the organization would continue to serve as a credible alternative in Spanish politics.{{cite web|access-date=1 February 2025 |date=1 March 2022 |language=es |publisher=ABC |title=El discurso de despedida de Casado |url=https://www.abc.es/espana/abci-ultima-intervencion-pablo-casado-congreso-202202230937_noticia.html}}

{{Conservatism in Spain|Politicians}}

He has been described as neoconservative (but Casado has consistently referred to himself as a “liberal-conservative,” focusing on tax reductions, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting family-oriented policies within the broader People’s Party program.{{cite web|access-date=1 February 2025 |date=14 July 2018 |language=es |publisher=COPE |title=Entrevista a Pablo Casado en COPE |url=https://www.cope.es/programas/herrera-en-cope/videos/entrevista-completa-pablo-casado-herrera-cope-20180918_545493}}), as well as close to José María Aznar and Esperanza Aguirre.{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2012/08/05/actualidad/1344123875_364440.html|journal=El País|date=5 August 2012|first=Luis|last=Gómez|title=Viaje iniciático de un cachorro del PP}}{{Cite journal|journal=Vanity Fair|url=http://www.revistavanityfair.es/actualidad/politica/articulos/mariano-rajoy-corrupcion-explicaciones-fernando-martinez-maillo-pablo-casado-javier-maroto/24143|title=Estas son las tres nuevas alternativas de Rajoy a la pantalla de plasma|date=26 April 2017|last=Adúriz|first=Íñigo}} He describes himself as liberal-conservative.{{cite web|url=https://www.cope.es/noticias/fin-semana/sigue-entrevista-pablo-casado-fin-semana-cope_239031|publisher=Cadena COPE|title=Pablo Casado: "Condeno el vídeo contra Soraya. Mi candidatura busca la unidad"|date=14 July 2018}} According to José Luis Villacañas, Casado's discourse incorporates several of the core tenets of the Spanish right, including an emphasis on Catholicism, the secondary role of women, a stress on the unity of the Spanish nation, anti-abortion views, and Atlanticism.{{Cite journal|first=José Luis|last=Villacañas|author-link=José Luis Villacañas|title=Un líder en el vacío|url=https://www.levante-emv.com/opinion/2018/07/23/lider-vacio/1748167.html|journal=Levante-EMV|date=23 July 2018}} According to Antonio Elorza, Casado's ascension represents the comeback of the reactionary PP in the name of principles and fidelity to political lineage: the family as a totem, a fiscal counter-reform, a heavy hand in Catalonia, a preventively repressive legislation and Francisco Franco's corpse remaining at Valle de los Caídos.{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/07/31/opinion/1533061084_985976.html|journal=El País|first=Antonio|last=Elorza|date=1 August 2018|title=Conservadores y reaccionarios}}

File:(Pablo Casado) IMG 1831 (43750973744).jpg in September 2018 during a ceremony for the opening of the political year.He inveighed against the Historical Memory Law.{{Cite web|url=http://cadenaser.com/emisora/2018/09/02/ser_avila/1535891603_848426.html|publisher=Cadena Ser|date=2018-09-02|title=Pablo Casado carga contra la Ley de Memoria Histórica}}]]

In October 2017, Casado vouched on a personal basis for a potential reform of the Organic Law of Political Parties, which would include the illegalization of political parties promoting the independence of a part of Spain.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Casado-Ley-Partidos-ilegalizacion-independencia_0_695381274.html|journal=Eldiario.es|title=Casado, partidario de incluir en la Ley de Partidos la ilegalización de las fuerzas que promuevan la independencia|date=2017-10-09}} Annoyed by the decision of a German court to grant the extradition of Puigdemont to Spain solely for the charge of embezzlement in July 2018 (which he branded as "humiliation"), he raised the possibility of abolishing the Schengen Area.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Pons-PP-Sanchez-Schengen-Puigdemont_0_791971368.html|journal=Eldiario.es|title=Casado plantea suprimir el espacio Schengen y califica de "humillación" la decisión del tribunal alemán sobre Puigdemont|date=12 July 2018}} In September 2018, he directly ordered the PP members of the European Parliament to abstain in the voting of the Sargentini report calling for triggering Article 7 proceedings against the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán.{{Cite journal|first=Carmen|last=Riego|journal=La Vanguardia|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/edicion-impresa/20180912/451783325778/el-lider-del-pp-ordena-abstenerse-en-la-sancion-europea-a-hungria.html|title=El líder del PP ordena abstenerse en la sanción europea a Hungría|date=2018-09-12}} Also in July 2018, he inveighed against "gender ideology", which he described as a form of "social collectivism the centre-right must fight against".{{Cite journal|first=Marta|last=Borraz|date=11 July 2018|journal=Eldiario.es|url=https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/ultracatolico-Pablo-Casado-desacreditar-LGTBI_0_791621200.html|title=La "ideología de género", el discurso ultracatólico usado por Pablo Casado que intenta desacreditar el feminismo}} He is also critical of the right of abortion, as well as euthanasia.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/politica/Casado-Santamaria-Vamos-capaces-trabajar_0_795120571.html|journal=Eldiario.es|title=Casado propone un PP "para liderar la España de los balcones y las banderas" contra el aborto y la eutanasia|first=Iñigo|date=21 July 2019|last=Aduriz}} On 21 July 2018 during the National Congress of the PP, he vowed to "reconquer the Catalan people". Referencing Tabarnia, a hypothetical anti-independentist breakaway from Catalonia, he said that he would be "turning the hypothetical Tabarnia into a real Tabarnia".{{Cite journal|first=Iván|last=Gil|url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2018-07-21/congreso-pp-pablo-casado-discurso-soraya-saenz-de-satamaria_1595719/|journal=El Confidencial|date=21 July 2018|title=Casado ofrece al partido renovación y recuperar los votos perdidos por la derecha}}{{Cite journal|url=https://politica.e-noticies.es/esa-tabarnia-hipotetica-va-a-ser-una-tabarnia-de-verdad-118816.html|journal=E-notícies|title=Esa Tabarnia hipotética va a ser una Tabarnia de verdad|date=21 July 2018}}

Casado considers the "Hispanidad" to be the mankind's greatest feat, only comparable to Romanization.{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/10/15/hechos/1539591736_192394.html|journal=El País|date=2018-10-15|title=La afirmación "ultranacionalista" y "exagerada" de Casado: "La hispanidad es el hito más importante del hombre"|first=Patricia R.|last=Blanco}} According to Elorza, in his message, void of any criticism, Casado recovers the formulation of the concept of Hispanidad of the 1930s and reaffirms a particular idea of Spain, in which history, turned into a mechanism of exaltation, is used to propel a nationalist mobilization.{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/10/16/opinion/1539701913_309535.html?id_externo_rsoc=TW_CM_OP|journal=El País|date=2018-10-17|first=Antonio|last=Elorza|title=Hispanidad}} The use by Casado of terminology, such as accusing NGOs of being "human traffickers", while also criticizing a perceived "do-goodism" in the Sánchez government regarding its migration policy has drawn comparisons to Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini by Steven Forti, of the Rolling Stone magazine.{{Cite journal|first=Steven|last=Forti|journal=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.it/politica/piccoli-salvini-crescono/423335/#Part1|date=2018-08-02|title=Piccoli Salvini crescono}}{{refn|group="n"|In July 2018, Consuelo Rumí, the Spanish Secretary of State for Migrations, compared Casado to Salvini for his criticism of Spain's immigration policy.{{Cite journal|first=Graham|last=Keely|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/spains-conservative-leader-pablo-casado-is-just-like-italys-matteo-salvini-says-socialist-party-immigration-minister-consuelo-rumi-tbm6m7prp|title=Spain's Conservative leader Pablo Casado is 'just like Italy's Matteo Salvini'|date=2018-07-31|journal=The Times}}}} He also said that action for the historical memory of Franco's crimes should be brought about by consensus, and that Spain should concentrate on problems of the present, not the past.{{cite news|last1=Amírola |first1=Rodrigo |title=Spain's Right-Wing Populist |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/spain-pablo-casado-peoples-party-populist |access-date=8 September 2018 |work=Jacobin Magazine}}

A monarchist,{{Cite journal|url=https://elpais.com/politica/2018/06/29/actualidad/1530282702_298452.html|first=Rubén|last=Amón|date=2018-06-30|title=Pablo Casado, el cachorro ya tiene colmillos|journal=El País}} Casado vocally defended the institution and proclaimed "I will always defend the King of Spain" in 2018 while he announced his opposition to opening a parliamentary commission aiming to investigate the irregularities allegedly committed by King emeritus Juan Carlos I that Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein revealed.{{Cite web|url=http://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-casado-defiende-monarquia-rechaza-comision-investigacion-analizar-revelaciones-corinna-20180716130043.html|publisher=Europa Press|title=Casado defiende la Monarquía y rechaza una comisión de investigación para analizar las revelaciones de Corinna|date=2018-07-16}} He has also considered as good move forward getting used to include praises to the King of Spain in everyday conversations,{{refn|group="n"|Be in the "street", in the "pub", in the "marketplace", in the "office" or in the "university".}} and deemed acts such as paying the pensions as a figurated way of saying Viva el Rey ("Long Live the King").{{Cite journal|url=https://www.eldiario.es/rastreador/Viva-discurso-Pablo-Casado-comentarios_6_812678725.html|journal=eldiario.es|title="Viva el rey": el extraño discurso de Pablo Casado que ha desatado bromas en las redes sociales|date=2018-09-09}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.publico.es/tremending/2018/09/09/la-palabras-que-casado-dedico-a-juan-carlos-i-estamos-diciendo-viva-el-rey-cuando-pagamos-las-pensiones/|journal=Público|date=2018-09-09|title=La palabras que Casado dedicó a Juan Carlos I: "Estamos diciendo 'viva el rey' cuando pagamos las pensiones"}} On 20 November 2021, he attended a special mass in Granada in the honour of Franco on the anniversary of his death. The Francisco Franco National Foundation publicly thanked Casado's attendance.{{cite news |title=El PP asegura que Casado fue a la misa por Francisco Franco sin saberlo |url=https://cadenaser.com/ser/2021/11/22/politica/1637582038_193281.html |access-date=23 November 2021 |agency=Cadena SER |date=22 November 2021}} The only explanation given by his political party was that he did not know what the mass was about, despite Franco flags and symbols being present in the church.{{cite web|access-date=1 February 2025 |date=22 November 2021 |language=es |publisher=Cadena SER |title=El PP asegura que Casado fue a la misa por Francisco Franco sin saberlo |url=https://cadenaser.com/ser/2021/11/22/politica/1637582038_193281.html}} On the economic front, Casado promised to eliminate taxes on wealth, inheritance and gifts, and to lower income and corporate taxes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.infolibre.es/politica/agenda-neoliberal-casado-rema-contracorriente-ocde-fmi-banco-espana-biden_1_1197678.html|title = La agenda neoliberal de Casado rema a contracorriente de la OCDE, el FMI, el Banco de España y Biden|date = 16 May 2021}}

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{{s-ppo}}

{{s-bef|before=Mariano Rajoy}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|President of the People's Party}}|years=2018–2022}}

{{s-aft|after=Alberto Núñez}}

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{{s-vac|last=Pedro Sánchez}}

{{s-ttl|title=Leader of the Opposition|years=2018–2022}}

{{s-aft|after=Alberto Núñez}}

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{{Leaders of the Opposition (Spain)}}

{{People's Party (Spain)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casado, Pablo}}

Category:1981 births

Category:Politicians from Castile and León

Category:Conservatism in Spain

Category:Leaders of political parties in Spain

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the 10th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 11th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 12th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)

Category:Members of the 8th Assembly of Madrid

Category:Members of the People's Parliamentary Group (Assembly of Madrid)

Category:People from Palencia

Category:People's Party (Spain) politicians

Category:Spanish nationalists

Category:Spanish Roman Catholics

Category:Leaders of the opposition (Spain)

Category:King Juan Carlos University alumni