Tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to denounce the upcoming amnesty law for Catalan leaders and activists, which allowed the left-wing government to win a new mandate, Agerpres reported.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets of MadridPhoto: Luis Soto / Zuma Press / Profimedia

About 170,000 people, according to the prefecture, gathered in Cibeles Square, around the famous fountain of the same name in the center of the Spanish capital, to respond to the right-wing call for protest.

The participants chanted “Sanchez, traitor”, “Sanchez, son of a bitch”, “Sanchez, go to jail!” or “Catalonia is Spain”, flying Spanish or European flags distributed by the European People’s Party, the pan-European political formation of which the People’s Party is a part.

“Pedro Sanchez wants to cut Spain into pieces,” said María Ángeles Galan, a 65-year-old retiree from Madrid, “to have the Basque Country on one side, Catalonia on the other, and say nothing happened and that the courts mattered.”

“A deal with the devil” made by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is second in the July 23 parliamentary election behind right-wing leader Alberto Núñez Feijo (PP), managed to win a new mandate in parliament on Thursday after intense negotiations to win regional support. formations, in particular Catalan separatist parties.

In exchange for their votes needed to form a majority, he accepted several concessions, including the upcoming passage of a highly controversial amnesty law for separatist leaders and militants prosecuted for their involvement in the 2017 Catalan secession attempt.

51-year-old entrepreneur Mariana came specifically from Zaragoza to protest “against amnesty”. “I think the fight starts now and in the long run. This should be known, this is a message to Europe,” she said, showing the European flag that her partner was holding.

Luis Garrido, a 65-year-old pensioner from Guadalajara in the Madrid region, says he is “a socialist but not a Sanhista”.

From his point of view, the prime minister should never have agreed to receive a new mandate “at such a price.” “I don’t want Spain to sink” and avoid “split Spain in this way”.

The crowd gathered around noon and quietly dispersed after the speeches of the organizers. Demonstrations took place every night in front of the Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid for two weeks, some of which turned violent, leading to dozens of arrests.

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