The PP was also one of the founding organisations of the Budapest-based Robert Schuman Institute for Developing Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.

On 24 May 2018, the National Court found that the PP profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Gürtel case, confirming the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure that ran in parallel with the party's official one since the party's foundation in 1989; the court ruled that the PP helped establish "a genuine and effective system of institutional corruption through the manipulation of central, autonomous and local public procurement".

[25][26] This prompted a no confidence vote on Mariano Rajoy's government, which was brought down on 1 June 2018 in the first successful motion since the Spanish transition to democracy.

[32] After this there were rumors that Casado had ordered to spy on the popular president of the community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for alleged irregularities, which collapsed popular support for PP according to opinion polls for future national elections,[33] being resolved with the resignation of Casado and the appointment of the veteran Alberto Núñez Feijóo as the new leader, which improved the electoral expectations of the party.

Although Fraga was a member of the reformist faction of the Franco regime, he supported an extremely gradual transition to democracy.

Additionally, while he attempted to convey a reformist image, the large number of former Francoists in the party led the public to perceive it as both reactionary and authoritarian.

It was hoped that this new coalition would capture the support of those who had voted for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in 1977, but who had become disenchanted with the Adolfo Suárez government.

The increased strength of the AP was further evidenced in the municipal and regional elections held in May 1983, when the party drew 26 percent of the vote.

A significant portion of the electorate appeared to support the AP's emphasis on law and order as well as its pro-business policies.

Prior to the June 1986 elections, the AP joined forces with the PDP and the Liberal Party (PL) to form the People's Coalition (CP), in another attempt to expand its constituency to include the centre of the political spectrum.

When regional elections in late 1986 resulted in further losses for the coalition, Fraga resigned as AP chairman, although he retained his parliamentary seat.

When support for the AP plummeted in the municipal and regional elections held in June 1987, it was clear that it would be overtaken as major opposition party by Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS).

On 4 September 1989, and at the suggestion of Fraga himself, José María Aznar (then premier of the Autonomous Region of Castile and León) was named the party's candidate for Prime Minister of Spain at the general elections.

Thus, Rajoy became the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the 2004 general election, held three days after the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, and which Rajoy lost by a big margin to Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

At a national level, its political strategy has followed two main axes, both linked to Spain's delicate regional politics: Firstly, opposing further administrative devolution to Catalonia by means of the newly approved "Estatut" or Statute of Catalonia that lays out the powers of the Catalan regional government.

At the convention, Mariano Rajoy was re-elected chairman with 79% of the vote, and in order to "refresh the negative public image of the party", which had been a major factor in the electoral defeat, its leadership was controversially renewed with young people, replacing a significant number of politicians from the Aznar era.

Ultimately, the party achieved the worst result in its history, winning just 16.7% of the national vote – a decline of almost 16% from the 2016 election – and losing over half its seats.

After a few months of confrontation between the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the leadership of the national branch of the party, on 16 February 2022, information appeared about an alleged payment (in the form of a commission) of Díaz Ayuso's brother for health material and also about alleged spying on the president's family by the party leadership through the City Council of Madrid.

[47] The following day, President Pablo Casado stated on the Cadena COPE radio channel that Díaz Ayuso should provide all the necessary documentation to clear doubts about his honorability, questioning at the same time his honesty by stating whether "it is logical to award a commission to your brother in April 2020, when 700 people were dying in Spain due to the pandemic".

Casado finally agreed to convene the National Board of Directors on 1 March to set in motion an Extraordinary Congress of the PP.

[51] After becoming the party's leader, Feijóo designated Cuca Gamarra, the PP's spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies, as the new Secretary General.

[53] The conservative party gained forty-eight seats in Congress and an absolute majority in the Senate, winning the elections.

[34] The PP failed to secure a parliamentary majority[35] with its allies, Canarian Coalition, Navarrese People's Union (UPN), and VOX; however, King of Spain Felipe VI requested that Feijóo try to form a government.

[67] Allegations appeared in the media regarding the existence of supposed illegal funds of the PP, used for the undercover monthly payments to VIPs in the party from 1989 to 2009, including the former government presidents, Mariano Rajoy and José María Aznar.

Judge Eloy Velasco instructing the Lezo Case in the Spanish National Court is investigating former President of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio González, former Work Minister, Eduardo Zaplana, Vice-councilor of the presidency of the Community of Madrid and implicated in Gürtel Case Alberto López Viejo, businessmen Juan Miguel Villar Mir (OHL) and PricewaterhouseCoopers among others for embezzlement of public funds to presumably finance People's Party (PP) campaigns in the Community of Madrid.