Spanish Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón has announced his resignation from his ministerial position and from politics altogether following the decision to shelve his controversial changes to abortion legislation.
Ruiz-Gallardon was mayor of Madrid between 2003 and 2011 and the region’s premier from 1995 to 2003, but has now decided to leave politics behind. He had been widely expected to step down after the Cabinet on Friday failed to give the green light to the abortion reform within the time frame he himself had set.
The highly controversial bill created an internal rift in the Partido Popular and also attracted significant criticism from the opposition for attempting to take Spain back 30 years in terms of abortion legislation.