Santiago Abascal


Santiago Abascal Conde is a Spanish politician who has been the leader of Vox party since September 2014 and a member of the Congress of Deputies in representation of Madrid since 2019. Before the creation of Vox, Abascal, a former long-standing member of the People's Party, served as legislator in the Basque Parliament, founded the Foundation for the Defence of the Spanish Nation and exerted the role of director of publicly funded entities of the Community of Madrid.

Early life

Abascal was born in Bilbao. Both Abascal's father and grandfather Due to their political activity, his family was threatened by the far-left terrorist group ETA.

Political career

He became a member of the People's Party at age 18, in 1994. Abascal was city councillor of Llodio for two terms. He served in the Basque Parliament from January 2004 to February 2005 representing Álava. He later served again in the regional legislature from October 2005 to January 2009.
Following his exit from Basque politics, Esperanza Aguirre, the regional president of the Community of Madrid, found him a niche in the region, hand picking him to the post of director of the Data Protection Agency of the Community of Madrid ; Abascal was later appointed to another post as Director of the Foundation for Patronage and Social Sponsorship, a publicly funded entity without known activity during Abascal's spell.
Abascal left the PP in 2013 and helped to found a new party, Vox, formed on the same day the Foundation for Patronage and Social Sponsorship dissolved. After Vox's bad result in the May 2014 European Parliament election, inner strife between a faction represented by party members such as Ignacio Camuñas, José Luis González Quirós and Alejo Vidal-Quadras and a hardline faction followed. The moderate faction became estranged from the party, and Abascal became the new president on 20 September 2014.

Personal life

He first married Ana Belén Sánchez, herself a PP candidate in local elections in Llodio and Zuia, with whom he had 2 children. In June 2018 he married the Spanish blogger and influencer Lidia Bedman., with whom he had two children. Abascal is a long-time member of the Spanish Ornithological Society. Abascal is an affiliate of the conservative association Hazteoir, and was the recipient of a HO Award in 2012.
Abascal was one of several Spanish politicians to test positive for the COVID-19 virus during the 2020 pandemic.