According to Spanish authorities, at least 170,000 people took to the streets in Madrid on Saturday to demonstrate against the new government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, international news agencies report. The demonstrators are angry about an amnesty law that could pardon about four hundred Catalan separatists who were involved in Catalonia’s independence referendum in 2017. After the referendum organizers proclaimed the Catalan Republic, the Spanish government suspended self-government and arrested and prosecuted the organizers.
Among them is Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who has fled abroad. He had demanded amnesty in exchange for support for a new government of Sánchez. The Pemier says he can curb unrest in Catalonia with the unpopular law, but opponents mainly see a politician who does not want to give up his position. In exchange for the amnesty law, two small Catalan parties will support Sánchez in the Spanish parliament, allowing him to run for a third term as prime minister – he was sworn in by the Spanish king on Friday.
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“No en mi nombre,” the crowd chanted, waving the Spanish flag. Not in my name. “Pedro Sánchez trainer”. Traitor Pedro Sánchez. Many demonstrators have cut the royal coat of arms from the flag in protest, because “Sánchez’s Spain is not worth the coat of arms.” Alberto Nuñes Feijóo, leader of the conservative Popular Party, and Santiago Abascal, leader of the right-wing radical party Vox, joined the march, which also saw Falangist flags.
Last summer, the Popular Party emerged victorious in the elections, but after the party failed to form a coalition with enough seats in parliament, it was Sánchez’s turn. With the amnesty scheme and the support of two Catalan parties, he found a majority in parliament.
Since Sánchez announced the amnesty deal more than two weeks ago, there have been continuous demonstrations at the headquarters of his socialist PSOE in Madrid. According to a recent poll, 70 percent of the population is against granting amnesty. The demonstrators include neo-Nazi groups and supporters of the late dictator Francisco Franco, whose regime tore Spain apart from the civil war in the late 1930s until his death in 1975.
With the collaboration of Oumaima Abalhaj.