The demonstrators demanded the dissolution of NATO and the closure of all NATO bases in Spain. “No to NATO, no to war, yes for peace,” the banner read. The demonstrators also included representatives of the radical left-wing ruling party Unidas Podemos (UP), which is a coalition party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist party.
The UP previously vehemently opposed the military alliance, but has abandoned the goal that Spain should leave NATO by 2015. Recently, however, opposition to NATO has been growing, partly because the alliance no longer seems to focus solely on defending the borders of the member states. Spain joined it in 1982.