Without any complexes. The PP, as he had promised the candidate, Paul Married in the primaries, he started the year with a convention ideologically to reinforce the principles of the party. There, in front of José María Aznar, and without Mariano Rajoy, announced the return of “PP true” and gave a speech hard, to the right of its predecessor: “murderers, rapists, and child molesters are out on the street by the Stockholm syndrome of the progresía”; “socialism sells Spain for a dish of lentils in The Moncloa”... Aznar announced that he was returning to vote for the PP and anointed the new leader with the words that Manuel Fraga had spent years before: “No conservatorships or tutías!”.

the foundation of The former president, FAES, landed in Genoa, as well as leaders of Floridablanca, another think tank that had also been dedicated to criticizing the predecessor of Married. His chief of staff was Javier Fernández-Lasquetty, the man who described publicly Rajoy as “a bad memory”. The strategy of the new leader to curb the rise of Vox consisted in to give precedence to ideology over the management. Was inaugurated the “right without complexes”.

Signings and departures. This new strategy brought with it a change of faces. The rival Married in the primaries, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, had left the policy in September of 2018, and behind her, in the months that followed, so did other former ministers and exsecretarios State of Rajoy, as Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Íñigo of the Serna, the brothers Alberto and Álvaro Nadal, Celia Villalobos, Cristóbal Montoro, Fátima Báñez, José Luis Ayllón. Marianists who have survived the new chart of Married were sent to the Senate, as the former coordinator-general, Fernando Martínez Maillo; the exportavoz in Congress, Rafael Hernando and Carlos Floriano. For different reasons there was a low Angel Garrido, who with his name already stamped on the lists of the PP in the European Parliament announced his signing for the Citizens. In January, Married, had truncated the aspirations of the president of madrid to propose as a candidate to the Community, Isabel Diaz Ayuso. The statement in which the PP announced its choice to emphasize the audacity to “defend without fear the principles and values of the PP”.

In the section of signings, Married, resorted to familiar faces as the pundits Pablo Montesinos and Edurne Uriarte, the bullfighter Miguel Abellán or Juan José Cortés, the father of the girl Mariluz, who was murdered in 2008, or the economist Daniel Lacalle. One of the returns that more escoció in the party's ranks was the of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, who had also been very critical of Rajoy, and had come to confess their vote to another party, Citizens. Also rang the name of Rosa Díez, but the founder of UPyD was not incorporated into the lists. Yes participated in a ceremony in Barcelona to ask for the vote for Married.

The debacle. The new signings moved in April to the heavy weights of the party in the lists. Married multiplied acts of campaign compared to its rivals with a speech hard, focused on stopping the leakage of votes to Vox. Presented a program recentralizador and included nods to the flags of the electorate of Santiago Abascal, and the defense of the bulls or hunting. On the last day of campaign, offered even ministries to Vox. Their strategy failed in the polls, and the debut election of Married made down to the PP up to 66 deputies, losing 71. Citizens was just up to 200,000 votes away.

The results caused a rebellion of the barons. The first executive committee of the PP after the debacle lasted three hours and the regional leaders called for returning to the center. In the press conference later, Married gave a twist overall: first time called “ultra-right” to Vox and announced the campaign slogan for the regional elections and municipal elections of may: “Focus on your future”.

Oxygen in the form of covenants. The compacts after the election of regional and municipal give oxygen to Married. Thanks to the agreement with Vox, and Citizens, the PP managed to keep the governments of Madrid, Murcia, Castilla y León and retrieve the mayor of the capital. The operation, allowed to relocate to party officials and to avoid the ERE after the debacle of the April elections. Strengthened with the covenants, Married, took another unpopular decision in the ranks of the PP: name Álvarez de Toledo spokesman in the Congress. The barons feared that that choice desdibujase the way back to the centre.

Costume of moderation. The attitude increasingly aggressive leader of Citizens, Albert Rivera, help to Married, however, to adopt a profile more institutional. No longer is the president of the PP, which devoted 21 insults in a row to the president of the Government in February. Now is the that ensures that Pedro Sanchez deserves “all” his respect, although not up to support your program.

Second chance. The repeat poll gives the PP a second chance. It is the examination of recovery of Married, and approves: goes from 66 to 89 deputies. The tone is very different from that of the April campaign. Also the faces and the strategy. Now premium management on the ideology, wants to talk a lot of economics and surrounds them in their lists of managers, as the former minister Elvira Rodriguez. Ana Pastor moves to Adolfo Suárez Illana as number two in the list of Married. The PP focuses on Catalonia and the crisis and recovers part of the lost ground, while Citizens are sinking up to 10 seats.

is Not not. The repeat election further complicated the formation of a Government to the winning party, the PSOE. Married, as he already did in April, he remains steadfast in his refusal to facilitate the endowment of Sanchez. He argues that that would leave the alternative in the hands of the Can and Vox; its programs and partners are antagonistic; that the majority in the Congress would allow the PSOE to get rid of the agreements that were reached with the PP and that there are other options without having or with them or with the independents.

Hardening of the speech. The trading of Sanchez to the endowment, has raised the tone of the speech of the PP. Álvarez de Toledo has come to ensure that the political moment is more difficult now than it was when ETA killed. Married puts the PSOE “outside of the Constitution” and has written tweets with names of socialists, murdered by the band to criticize the negotiation with Bildu. “Sanchez tries to buy his investiture with criminals and trades on the jail what it should be unacceptable”, he added these days in reference to CKD. The covenant We freed the PP of the pressure for an abstention and the fact that the socialist leader does not respond to your call on election night and will leave at the end in the round of contacts facilitated the story of the popular. Married ends the year without pressure, relatively comfortable. Dirigentis party attributed in large part to the strategy of Sanchez.