Demonstrations in Spain against amnesty for Catalans
More than a hundred thousand people demonstrated against the planned amnesty for Catalan separatists at nationwide demonstrations in Spain on Sunday. This had been promised by caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the socialist PSOE to two Catalan separatist parties in order to secure support for his re-election, which is expected this week, for a further four years in office. Participants at the largest rally in Madrid carried signs reading "No to amnesty, yes to the constitution" and "Sánchez traitor", as seen on state TV station RTVE.
Spokespersons for the largest opposition party, the conservative People's Party (PP), warned that democracy in Spain was at risk. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said that the protests would continue until there was a new election. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the influential PP head of government in the Madrid region, even spoke of a "dictatorship through the back door". The organizers put the number of participants in Madrid alone at 500,000, while the government spoke of 80,000. No figures were initially available for the country as a whole.
Change of direction criticized
Conservatives are generally skeptical of concessions to the separatists, while the right-wing populist Vox wants to ban such parties outright. However, some PSOE voters are also angry because Sánchez had ruled out not only a referendum on Catalonia's secession from Spain, as in 2017, but also an amnesty for separatists before the election on July 23. Once the election result was known and it became clear that he could only govern with the help of separatist parties, he was open to an amnesty. Sánchez is counting on defusing the Catalonia conflict through dialog and compromise. This strategy is risky because it could cost him many votes in the rest of the country.
The People's Party had called for the rallies in the capitals of all the country's provinces. They were joined by the right-wing populist Vox and the small liberal Ciudadanos party. Although Feijóo received the most votes in the election on July 23, it was unable to forge a majority in parliament, mainly because parties other than the PP did not want to sit in the same boat as Vox.
The government's decision to offer an amnesty for Catalan separatists has been met with nationwide demonstrations by various political parties, including the conservative People's Party. These parties argue that the amnesty could potentially risk democracy in Spain and that a new election should be held instead. Public conflicts between the government and these opposition parties are escalating, causing uncertainty and division among the Spanish population.
Source: www.dpa.com
