The organizers of the rally accuse socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of misleading his voters. Sánchez is committed to defusing the Catalan conflict through compromises.
Once again, more than a hundred thousand people demonstrated on Saturday in the Spanish capital, Madrid, against the planned amnesty for Catalan separatists and other concessions. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, re-elected on Thursday, promised this in exchange for the support of two Catalan separatist parties.
The banners read “Sánchez in prison”, “Sánchez traitor” and “Pedro Sánchez, the Judas of the XXI”. Century”, as broadcast on the state TV channel RTVE. Last Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people protested against Sánchez and amnesty in national rallies.
The organizers of the rally in Madrid, several dozen civil society associations, spoke of one million participants, while the government representation in the capital estimated the number at 170 thousand. The motto of the demonstration was “Not in my name: neither amnesty nor self-determination. For freedom, unity and equality.”
Voter fraud
The head of the largest opposition party, the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the leader of the right-wing populist Vox, Santiago Abascal, also called for the demonstration. Although the PP emerged as the strongest force in the July 23 elections, Feijóo was unable to secure a parliamentary majority. This was also due to his intention to form a coalition with Vox.
Feijóo reiterated on the sidelines of the rally that Sánchez misled voters by ruling out an amnesty before the elections. The PP is calling for new elections. Abascal once again accused the socialist of wanting to establish a dictatorship.
Dialogue and commitments
Sánchez is committed to defusing the Catalan conflict through dialogue and compromise. Patxi López, spokesman for the Socialists in Parliament, accused the opposition on Saturday of not protesting against the amnesty, but because it suffered a defeat in the July elections that it did not want to accept.
The night before, several thousand people demonstrated again in front of the headquarters of Sánchez’s socialist PSOE party in Madrid. Among other things, they sang the song “Cara al Sol”, the party anthem of the fascist-oriented Falange movement of dictator Francisco Franco, who died in 1975. It was the 15th consecutive night of sometimes violent demonstrations in front of the party headquarters. (APA/dpa)