OVIEDO, Spain

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, co-founder of the far-right party Vox, was shot in the face in Madrid on Thursday, and is now in the hospital in stable condition, Spanish daily El Pais reported.

Madrid’s emergency services confirmed that a 78-year-old man was treated for gunshot wounds after being attacked at midday in the central Madrid neighborhood of Salamanca.

The supervisor of Madrid’s emergency services Mariluz Sabin said the bullet went through his jaw. She said he had been transferred to a local hospital but was in stable condition.

While police investigations are ongoing, El Pais pointed to reports that the man who shot Vidal-Quadras was wearing a motorcycle helmet. After firing his weapon, he got onto a motorcycle that someone else was driving and they both fled the scene of the crime.

Vidal-Quadras was a member of the Popular Party for most of his political career, serving as a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and as first vice president of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007.

In 2014, he announced he was leaving the mainstream conservative party to co-found the far-right party Vox.