On 26 November 2025, the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised «The Art of Governing», with contributions from Mariano Rajoy, Benigno Pendás and Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Mariano Rajoy Brey is a property registrar. He was the President of the Spanish Government between 2011 and 2018. A law graduate from the University of Santiago de Compostela, he became a registrar at the early age of 23. His extensive political career -including his work as a regional deputy, minister in various portfolios and national leader of the Partido Popular- forged his recognised pragmatism in the face of the nation's challenges. Through his books, En confianza (2014), Una España mejor (2019) and Política para adultos (2021), he has shared his life experience and his keen understanding of the social and political landscape. After his time at the Moncloa, he resumed his professional life as a registrar and devoted himself to both writing and analysing the public sphere.
Benigno Pendás García is an ex officio Councillor of the Council of State, first as director of the CEPC (2012-2018) and now, since 2022, as president of the Royal Academy of Political and Moral Sciences, Pendás holds a degree in Law and a PhD in Political Science from the UCM. He is Professor of Political Science at the CEU San Pablo University, where he has directed its Institute for the Study of Democracy. Since 1981 he has been a lawyer in the Spanish Parliament. He has been Head of the Legal Department of the Spanish Senate; Director General of Fine Arts (1996-2000); trustee of the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum; and member of the Board of Directors of Patrimonio Nacional. He was a member of the scientific council of the Real Instituto Elcano. He is a trustee of the Ortega-Marañón Foundation and president of the La Granda Courses. In 2014 he joined the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. In 2015 he won the Premio Internacional de Ensayo Jovellanos for his essay Restless Democracies. An active defence of constitutional Spain. He is currently developing a six-volume project entitled Biografía de la libertad (Biography of Freedom). In 2022 he was appointed president of the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas, and since October of the same year he has been president of the Instituto de España.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is the current president of the Partido Popular since 2022. A graduate in Law from the USC, he is a member of the senior staff of the General Administration of the Xunta. He was technical general secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry; vice-president and general secretary of the Galician Health Service; director of the National Health Institute (Insalud) and president of the Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos, S.A. In 2003 he was appointed councillor of Territorial Policy and in 2004 first vice-president of the Xunta de Galicia. He was elected president of the PPdeG in January 2006 and, after winning the elections on 1 March 2009, he was sworn in as president of the Xunta de Galicia on 18 April 2009. Núñez Feijóo accumulated four absolute majorities in regional elections, the last of them in the Galician elections of 2020.
Summary:
On 26 November 2025, the Rafael del Pino Foundation hosted the presentation of the book The art of governance, by Mariano Rajoy. The event brought together the author with Benigno Pendás, president of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences and author of the prologue, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the Popular Party.
The session served as a forum for presenting and analysing different aspects of political activity and government within the framework of a constitutional democracy.
Benigno Pendás: key points of the book's conceptual framework
Benigno Pendás opened the event by placing the work in its intellectual and political context. He explained how the book approaches politics from a practical perspective and analysed several of the conceptual references used by Rajoy, including the relationship between cooperation and conflict, the role of democratic institutions, the centrality of the Constitution and the importance of moderation as a principle of political functioning.
Pendás also reviewed some of the passages devoted to populism, the structure of the state, and the foundations of the parliamentary system, highlighting how these topics are developed in the text.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo: considerations on the responsibility of governing
In his speech, Alberto Núñez Feijóo commented on various elements covered in the book and linked to government practice. He addressed issues related to decision-making, preparation for the exercise of public responsibilities, and the role of experience in political management.
He also shared his perspective on various current institutional, social and economic issues which, in his opinion, influence the functioning of the country and are linked to some of the chapters in the book.
Mariano Rajoy: purpose, structure and content of The art of governance
Mariano Rajoy closed the event by explaining the book's objectives and how it was put together. He pointed out that the work brings together reflections accumulated over almost forty years of political activity and is organised into short, thematic chapters.
The author reviewed the main sections of the book, which address issues such as democracy, the Constitution, Parliament, the economy, social media, immigration and the challenges associated with digitalisation. He also mentioned the chapter focusing on the human aspects of politics, in which he shares personal insights related to decision-making, managing pressure and the role of experience.
The session concluded with a final speech by the author, in which he revisited some of the general ideas in the book and emphasised his intention to offer a structured summary of the elements that, in his experience, he considers relevant to understanding the functioning of politics and the exercise of government in Spain.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for the comments, opinions or statements made by the people who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their sole responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the debates held at the meeting held for this purpose at the Foundation and are the responsibility of their authors.
The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for any comments, opinions or statements made by third parties. In this respect, the FRP is not obliged to monitor the views expressed by such third parties who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their own responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the discussions that took place during the conference organised for this purpose at the Foundation and are the sole responsibility of its authors.
