“Spain is not divided,” the signs read. But Spain is already divided. The urban guerrilla war on Calle de Ferraz in the capital, where the Socialist Party is based, was launched by a minority: far-right acronyms, already anti-vax, even – it seems – the Ultras, who preferred the square to Atlético -Curve Madrid. The break is political: the break that the country has clung to after the vote of July 23, which did not give anyone a majority or, better yet, no one was able to give up the seats of the Catalan independents.
For part of public opinion, the amnesty law is the precursor to secession. For the other half, the text being finalized in Brussels, where former Generalitat governor Carles Puigdemont is in exile, smells of national reconciliation; It is the viaticum for Pedro Sánchez’s third mandate. On Monday, when the agreement with the Catalans of Junts seemed just a step away, a “Vamos a Ferraz” thundered on X from Vox boss Santiago Abascal, who was later challenged because he left before the police charges (immediately in the reported on social media).
The webcall was repeated on Tuesday evening. Orders in lowercase letters: “Peaceful.” Next to the green of the ultra-right, louder after the election flop, the yellow and red flags. The number of demonstrators doubled: 7,000. The PSOE offices had been chosen by Vox’s youth wing, “Revuelta”, as the symbol of the “coup”, as this galaxy calls it. On Tuesday they became the epicenter of a protest that later failed.
The meeting point is in the nearby Parque del Oeste, one hour before the garrison. Among the patrons are Alvise Pérez, a sort of right-wing influencer, and Daniel Esteve, leader of “Desokupa,” a movement specializing in the “liberation” of squats. There is also an undergrowth of neo-Nazi acronyms singing the Franco anthem. An investigation by País documented the deviation. At a certain point the march goes towards Parliament. There will be no Iberian equivalent of January 6th, but six arrests between the barricades and about thirty officers injured.
– The socialist leader in the offices in Madrid
Sánchez visited the headquarters in Madrid, where he had celebrated the “failure” of the “involutionist bloc” on the balcony in the middle of summer. The atmosphere is different. “They have tried to silence us in the past. Neither then nor now will intolerant people be able to intimidate a party with 144 years of history.” The investiture could come next week, he and his allies (which include Sumar’s Left and the other Catalan autonomous force, ERC) have November 27th was set as the deadline. Otherwise, vote on January 14th.
In this polarization, Popolari leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo managed to condemn the riots by blaming his opponent. “Violence has no place in a democracy, nor does impunity.” Sánchez has no credibility, he argues, because he would thank other “criminals,” since the center-right still considers the secessionists of 2017. On Sunday it will be the turn of the PP streets to resist, in the name of “democracy”.
As the EU seeks clarification on the amnesty through Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, the crowd returned to Calle de Ferraz on the sixth day. Without incident, but the chorus of identity could be heard again: “Christian Spain, not Muslim.” Especially divided Spain.