16th National Congress of the People's Party (Spain)

The congress of the PP was the party's supreme body, and could be of either ordinary or extraordinary nature, depending on whether it was held following the natural end of its term or due to any other exceptional circumstances not linked to this event. Ordinary congresses were to be held every three years and called at least two months in advance of their celebration. Extraordinary congresses had to be called by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Directors at least one-and-a-half month in advance of their celebration, though in cases of "exceptional urgency" this deadline could be reduced to thirty days.

The president of the PP was the party's head and the person holding the party's political and legal representation, and presided over its board of directors and executive committee, which were the party's maximum directive, governing and administration bodies between congresses. The election of the PP president was based on an indirect system, with party members voting for delegates who would, in turn, elect the president. Any party member was eligible for the post of party president, on the condition that they were up to date with the payment of party fees and were proposed by at least 20% of congress delegates.^[5]

The key dates are listed below (all times are CEST. Note that the Canary Islands use WEST (UTC+1) instead):^[6][7]

• 31 March: Official announcement of the congress.
• 21–22 April: Election of congress delegates.
• 20–22 June: Party congress.

Candidate		Age	Notable positions	Announced	Eliminated	Ref.
Elected
Candidate elected as president.
Mariano Rajoy		53	President of the PP (since 2004) Leader of the Opposition of Spain (since 2004) Deputy in the Cortes Generales for Pontevedra and Madrid (1986 and since 1989) Secretary-General of the PP (2003–2004) Spokesperson of the Government of Spain (2002–2003) Minister of the Presidency of Spain (2000–2001 and 2002–2003) First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain (2000–2003) Vice Secretary-General of the PP (1990–2003) Minister of the Interior of Spain (2001–2002) Minister of Education and Culture of Spain (1999–2000) Minister of Public Administrations of Spain (1996–1999) President of AP/PP in Pontevedra (1983–1986 and 1987–1991) Vice President of the Xunta de Galicia (1986–1987) President of the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra (1983–1986) City Councillor of Pontevedra (1983–1986) Deputy in the Parliament of Galicia for Pontevedra (1981–1985) Director-General of Institutional Relations of Galicia (1982)	11 March 2008	Y Elected	[8]

The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:

• 
  Esperanza Aguirre
• 
  Juan Costa
• 
  Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
• 
  Rodrigo Rato

• Esperanza Aguirre (age 56) — President of the PP of the Community of Madrid (since 2004); President of the Community of Madrid (since 2003); Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (since 2003); Spokesperson of the PP Group in the Assembly of Madrid (2003); Senator in the Cortes Generales for Madrid (1996–2003); President of the Senate of Spain (1999–2002); Minister of Education and Culture of Spain (1996–1999); First Deputy Mayor of Madrid (1995–1996); Spokesperson of the PP Group in the City Council of Madrid (1995–1996); City Councillor of Madrid (1983–1996).^[9][10][11]
• Juan Costa (age 42) — Deputy in the Cortes Generales for Castellón (1993–1996, 2000, 2004 and since 2008); Minister of Science and Technology of Spain (2003–2004); Secretary of State of Trade and Tourism of Spain (2000–2003); President of the Spanish Tax Agency (1996–2000); Secretary of State of Finance of Spain (1996–2000).^[12][13][14]
• Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (age 49) — Mayor of Madrid (since 2003); City Councillor of Madrid (1983–1987 and since 2003); President of the Community of Madrid (1995–2003); Deputy in the Assembly of Madrid (1987–2003); Spokesperson of the PP Group in the Senate of Spain (1993–1995); Senator in the Cortes Generales appointed by the Assembly of Madrid (1987–1995); Spokesperson of the AP/PP Group in the Assembly of Madrid (1987–1993); Vice President of AP (1987–1989); Secretary-General of AP (1986–1987).^[15]
• Rodrigo Rato (age 59) — Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (2004–2007); First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain (2003–2004); Vice Secretary-General of the PP (1996–2004); Deputy in the Cortes Generales for Cádiz and Madrid (1982–2004); Second Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of Spain (2000–2003); Minister of Economy of Spain (2000–2003); Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain (1996–2000); Minister of Economy and Finance of Spain (1996–2000); Spokesperson of the PP Group in the Congress of Deputies (1989–1996).^[16]

Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of at least 20% of congress delegates.

Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size								Other /None	?	Lead
			Rajoy (Inc.)	Aguirre	Gallardón	Rato	Costa	Camps	Aznar
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 1]	16 Jun 2008	1,000	–	13.7	26.8	8.2	1.3	–	–	12.8	37.2	13.1
Opina/Cadena SER[p 2][p 3]	12 Jun 2008	1,000	15.4	18.8	29.7	27.0	2.0	2.0	–	1.7	3.4	2.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 4]	10–12 Jun 2008	1,000	21.7	9.3	31.8	24.2	0.9	–	–	12.1		7.6
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 5]	24–25 Apr 2008	1,000	25.8	14.5	25.4	18.4	–	–	–	15.9		0.4
InvyMark/laSexta[p 6]	20 Apr 2008	?	45.9	32.5	–	–	–	–	–	–	21.6	13.4
Opina/Cadena SER[p 7]	28 Feb 2008	?	–	14.0	26.0	15.0	–	–	4.0	41.0		11.0

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							Other /None	?	Lead
			Rajoy (Inc.)	Aguirre	Gallardón	Rato	Costa	Camps
Opina/Cadena SER[p 2][p 3]	12 Jun 2008	1,000	11.4	11.2	44.9	16.2	2.0	1.4	2.2	10.7	28.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 1][p 4]	10–12 Jun 2008	1,000	13.9	7.5	41.0	15.9	0.8	–	20.9		25.1
InvyMark/laSexta[p 6]	20 Apr 2008	?	35.3	29.3	–	–	–	–	–	35.4	6.0
Opina/Cadena SER[p 7]	28 Feb 2008	?	–	8.0	38.0	8.0	–	–	46.0		30.0
Opina/Cadena SER[p 8][p 9]	29 Aug 2007	1,000	15.0	–	44.0	25.0	–	–	–	16.0	19.0

Opinion poll sources

Other