Mariano Rajoy returns to beach town property registrar job after being ousted as prime minister

Fresh from his removal as Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday returned to the job he left 28 years ago: the post of property registrar in a small coastal town near Alicante.

Eschewing the well-trodden path into the lucrative speaking circuit, advisory roles or working for foundations often preferred by former government leaders, Mr Rajoy has opted to withdraw from public life entirely.

Now, anyone seeking to register a property in Santa Pola - a resort town of 30,000 popular with British expats - may be attended to by none other than the former Spanish leader. Heading a team of just seven, Mr Rajoy told reporters gathered outside the Property Registry office on Wednesday morning that he was “not nervous about my first day” - a sentiment evident in his arrival almost 50 minutes after the 9am start time.

Pressed to comment on the leadership race his departure has prompted in the conservative Popular Party, Mr Rajoy declined, explaining that he did “not have much more to say”.

“I am retiring from politics and returning to where I was," he said. “I have nothing to pass on to the candidates, apart from what I have already said, that I’m going, but life goes on and the PP is a great party.”

Mr Rajoy occupied the registrar post in Santa Pola for just two years before leaving in 1990 to focus on his political career. He never formally relinquished the place in Spain’s College of Property Registrars, however, instead opting to have it temporarily filled by a close friend and local businessman, an arrangement continued for almost three decades. 

The leader who occupied La Moncloa, the prime minister's official residence, for the last seven years seemed to be enjoying his return to everyday life. Ahead of his day in the office - which closes at 5pm - he was spotted going for a morning jog along the beachfront promenade in Alicante, before stopping for breakfast nearby. 

But a yearning for normality may not be Mr Rajoy’s only motivation. While he was commended by supporters for choosing a provincial civil service post over the pension reserved for former prime ministers, the decision may also prove a profitable one. According to Spanish press reports, the average income of a property registrar - while dependent on volume of work - stands at some 15,000 euros a month, more than double his wage as the country’s leader.