The former head of Spain’s People’s Party in the Catalonia region was shot in the face in Madrid on Thursday, police said.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras was shot in the wealthy Salamanca area of central Madrid at about 1.30 p.m. and taken to hospital.

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.

Police have cordoned off the area where the shooting happened. No arrests have yet been made, police said.

(This story has been corrected to fix the name of the victim from ‘Alejandro Vidas Quadras’ to ‘Alejo Vidal-Quadras’ in paragraph 2)