MADRID — The former leader of Spain's Popular Party in the Catalan region has been hospitalised after being shot in the face in Madrid on Thursday.

Police said 78-year-old Alejandro Vidal-Quadras was shot on a central street around 13:30pm local time, and was conscious when he was taken to hospital.

Vidal-Quadras, was a long-time member of Spain's conservative Popular Party, its regional leader in Catalonia and a member of the European Parliament before breaking away to help found the far-right Vox party.

He left Vox shortly after a failed attempt to win a seat in the European Parliament in 2014.

According to El Pais newspaper, initial investigations suggest that two people arrived on a black Yamaha motorbike on the central avenue while the former politician was walking alone.

The assailant, who was wearing a helmet, got off the bike and shot him.

He then got back on the vehicle, where the other person was waiting for him, and they left the scene.

Witnesses to the attack were the first to attend to the victim, followed by two police officers who tried to plug the wound.

Medical sources told El Mundo newspaper that the bullet "pierced the victim's jaw from one end to the other". — Euronews