Alejo Vidal-Quadras was shot in the wealthy Salamanca area of central Madrid at about 1.30pm and was still conscious when he was taken to hospital, a police spokesman said.

Spanish news agency EFE reported that police were hunting for a motorcyclist who was wearing a black helmet in connection with the shooting.

Vidal-Quadras, 78, was the head of the centre-right PP in Catalonia, and also a co-founder of Spain’s far-right Vox party and vice-president of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2014.

Police have cordoned off the area where the shooting happened.

No arrests have yet been made, police said.

The People’s Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo called for a thorough police investigation.

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, said he understood that Vidal-Quadras was “out of danger” in hospital.

He said it was too early speculate about why Vidal-Quadras had been assaulted.