Spain’s conservative Popular party was once a by-word on the European right for its cohesion and discipline. Now, in the wake of a second successive general election drubbing and the departure of senior party officials, the PP looks in increasing danger of falling apart.

Mariano Rajoy, the party’s beleaguered leader, lost his second- and third-in-command this week. Eduardo Zaplana, the opposition spokesman in congress, has quit politics to join Telefónica, one of Spain’s largest companies, for a reported salary of €600,000 ($925,000, £473,000).