The ECR Group in the European Parliament strongly condemns the cowardly attack on Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former president of the Spanish People's Party of Catalonia and founder of Vox, in which an unknown person shot him in the face in the street, and demands that the Spanish police and judiciary take firm action against those responsible.

ECR Co-President Nicola Procaccini (Italy) said: “We are in shock because we feel very close to our friends from Vox. We are glad to hear that our friend Alejo Vidal-Quadras was not seriously injured and we wish him a speedy recovery. We now hope that the police and the judiciary will quickly bring those responsible to justice.”

ECR Co-President Prof Ryszard Legutko (Poland) said: “We are hearing frightening news from Spain, where a leading politician from our family of parties has been gunned down in the street. We can only hope that Mr Vidal-Quadras will recover quickly and wish him all the best for his recovery”.

Vidal-Quadras, 78, is also a former MEP and was Vice-President of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014.