Millions of people in Spain are protesting against the government’s plan to offer amnesty to Catalan separatists.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, head of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), offered amnesty in exchange for the Catalans’ support of his leadership.
Spaniards view the move as an illegal attempt to remain in power.
It is estimated that over 1 million people took to the streets of Madrid to protest.
There may actually be over a million Spanish patriots protesting today in Madrid against the socialist coup
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 12, 2023
I’ve never seen anything like this
Media can’t hide it anymorepic.twitter.com/2VrUd42drw
The Guardian reported that the issue of amnesty followed an “inconclusive general election.”
According to the outlet, the PSOE gathered support by “promising the amnesty to the two main Catalan pro-independence parties in return for their support. Sánchez is now expected to win congress’s approval to be reappointed prime minister in a debate and vote towards the end of this week.”
The right-leaning People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said Sanchez is “buying his investiture in return for giving his partners judicial impunity.”
“The office of Prime Minister of Spain can’t be an object to be bought and sold,” Feijóo stated. “Spaniards want democracy, equality, justice, and dignity. Spain has never sold itself, and they [the PSOE] have tried to cover up the fact that they lost. The Prime Minister of Spain will always be the person that’s won the elections.”
Sanchez reacted to the protests by tweeting, “I ask for sanity and restraint from the PP.”
“Let him accept the result of the polls and the legitimacy of the Government that we will form very soon. Be brave and say no to the bear hug of the extreme right and abandon the reactionary path on which they are moving towards the abyss today,” he said. “We will govern for all Spaniards. Here’s to four more years of social progress and coexistence.”
Pido cordura y mesura al PP.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) November 11, 2023
Que acepte el resultado de las urnas y la legitimidad del Gobierno que muy pronto formaremos. Que sea valiente y diga no al abrazo del oso de la ultraderecha y abandone la senda reaccionaria por la que hoy avanzan hacia el abismo.
Gobernaremos para… pic.twitter.com/5ax4VsZo6P
