The Popular Party has officially begun the process to elect a new national leader. Today was the last day to present candidacies, and 7 politicians aspire to succeed Mariano Rajoy.

Three of them -José Ramón García Hernández, José Luis Bayo and Elio Cabanes- are considered outsiders, as they have never held a relevant position in neither the national organization nor the Government of Spain. 

Among the other four, the most veteran is former External Affairs Minister, José Manuel García Margallo. The 74-years-old candidate is an experimented politician, whose career goes back to the times of the Spanish Transition. He has manifested his animosity towards former vice president Soraya Saénz de Santamaría. 

The youngest one, Pablo Casado, 37 years old, has progressed rapidly in the party in the last few years, going from leader of the party's youth organisation to vice secretary of communication. He is considered one of the main future prospects of the Popular Party although this congress maybe comes too soon for him.

The main favourites for the position remain Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and María Dolores de Cospedal. The former was the vice president of Rajoy's Government between 2012 and 2018, and handled important affairs, such as the independence process in Catalonia. The latter, former number two of the Popular Party during the Rajoy presidency, has a strong knowledge of the organisation, and also served as Minister of Defence in Rajoy's last cabinet.

The name of the new leader of the Popular Party will be known on July the 20th.