Mariano Rajoy had accepted that he was in his last hours as prime minister of Spain. This Friday morning, he made his final speech before the vote to remove him from office. In that very short speech, he avoided any sort of analysis. Rajoy arrived in the Congress at the end of the debate to express his thanks and bid farewell to the chamber. "It's been an honour to have been prime minister", he said, "it's been an honour to have left a better Spain than the one I found".
"Hopefully my substitute will be able to say the same when his time comes," said Rajoy. For this reason, he wished Pedro Sánchez luck "for the good of Spain" and congratulated him for becoming prime minister. "I will, as a democrat, accept the result of the vote, but I don't agree with it," he said.
Showing little emotion, the outgoing prime minister also apologised if anyone had felt "offended" during his six and a half years in office. He gave special thanks to his party. It remains to be seen what role he will play now he is no longer prime minister.