Thousands of People Demonstrate the Spanish Prime Minister’s Agreement with Separatists
Following the call of conservative parties, hundreds of thousands of enraged Spaniards flocked to squares throughout the nation on Sunday to demonstrate against a deal struck by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez with secessionists, offering them amnesties in exchange for the political support needed to keep him in office.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative Popular Party, declared at a demonstration in Madrid that “the office of prime minister of Spain can’t be an object to be bought and sold,” while tens of thousands of supporters waved Spanish flags and carried posters that read “Sánchez Traitor” and “No to Amnesty.
The countrywide demonstrations were a desperate, nearly futile attempt to prevent Mr. Sánchez from taking office as prime minister once more, but they also serve as a reflection of the unpredictable and unfamiliar political environment that he will have to navigate.
In Spain, where stability has long been the norm, unstable and fragmented alliances are becoming increasingly prevalent. now an illegal referendum rocked Spain to its core in 2017, the topic of Catalonia’s independence appeared to have subsided, but it has now resurfaced as a deadly fault line dividing Spanish politics and society. The demonstrations, which featured numerous posters pleading with the EU for assistance, highlighted how ironic it is that Spain has a progressive, pro-unity favorite in Brussels in Mr. Sánchez, whose administration is based on the support of separatists.
The 34-year-old Almudena Calvo claimed that Mr. Sánchez was a threat to democracy and waved a placard that read, “Sánchez Traitor, SOS Europe.” She said, “Sánchez is going to tell the others in Europe that the right-wing parties don’t respect democracy, but it’s not true.” He is giving our nation away to those who wish to see it destroyed.
