11/12/2023 12:09
Tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets this Sunday (12) called by the right to protest against the future amnesty law for Catalan separatists granted by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to guarantee their support and return to power.
This controversial amnesty is seen by parts of Spanish society as an attack on the rule of law and comes six years after the attempted secession of Catalonia (Northeast) in 2017, one of the worst political crises in contemporary Spain.
Starting at midday local time, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in 52 cities across the country to say “no to amnesty,” heeding the call of the People’s Party (PP), the largest rightwing opposition party.
“We will not be silent until there are elections,” said its leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo during a speech in Madrid.
This mobilization goes “far beyond the parties,” added Feijóo, who won parliamentary elections in July but was unable to be sworn in as government president due to a lack of sufficient support in parliament.
In the capital, according to the government delegation, around 80,000 demonstrators formed a sea of Spanish flags in the central Plaza de la Puerta del Sol and surrounding areas, chanting “renunciation of Pedro Sánchez” and carrying banners reading “No more.” Regional inequality ” or “Sánchez is dividing the nation and creating tension.”
Behind the Spaniards’ backs
Pedro Sánchez, who came second in the elections, has now guaranteed his return to power thanks to the support of several groups and the seven deputies of Carles Puigdemont’s separatist party. He was the main figure in the 2017 secession attempt and fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution.
In return for his support, Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) party received an amnesty law for separatists persecuted by the courts, mainly due to the events of 2017, as well as the start of negotiations on the issue of “recognition”. of Catalonia as a nation”, among other things.
The Spanish right, part of the judiciary and also some moderate leaders of Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) consider that the amnesty measure violates the principles of equality and territorial unity and separation of powers.
In the crowd in Madrid, Laura Díaz Bordonado, a 31yearold lawyer draped in a Spanish flag, admitted that in addition to feeling “anger or indignation,” she was also afraid of this political alliance.
Further away, Alberto, a 32yearold teacher who also votes right, denounced a pact made “behind the backs of everyone here.”
Accept “the results of the surveys”
Sánchez, in power since 2018, called on Saturday at the European Socialist Congress in Málaga, southern Spain, for the Popular Party to “accept the results of the polls and the legitimacy of the government that we will soon form.”
The farright party Vox joined the PP protests this Sunday before taking part in demonstrations in front of the PSOE headquarters across the country.
In Madrid, Vox leader Santiago Abascal called for a “permanent” and “increasing” mobilization to prevent the “coup d’etat” that he said represents the agreement between the socialists and the Catalan separatists.
The PSOE national headquarters in Madrid has been the target of daily demonstrations for more than a week at the request of Voxaffiliated organizations. These demonstrations often resulted in clashes between radical activists and the police.
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