Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Catalan Amnesty Controversy

The current Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who represents the Socialists, has promised to grant amnesty to Catalan nationalists facing prosecution for holding the failed 2017 Catalan independence referendum, in exchange for Catalan separatist support for his new government.

The largest demonstration took place in Madrid, during which placards read slogans such as “No to amnesty, yes to the constitution” and “Sanchez the traitor”.

The largest opposition party – the conservative People’s Party (PP) – has warned that Spanish democracy is at risk.

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijo has announced that the protests will continue until new early elections are announced.

The organizers of the demonstrations have announced that half a million people took to the streets in Madrid alone, while the government claims that the number of participants reached only 80,000.

There are no data on the total number of demonstrators in Spain yet.

The issue of amnesty came to the fore after the parliamentary elections in July, in which neither the left nor the right could win an absolute majority. After the election, Sánchez needs the parliamentary support of the Catalan separatist parties Together for Catalonia (JxCat) and the Catalan Left Republicans (ERC) to retain his post as head of government. In return, both parties have demanded that the charges against hundreds of Catalan separatists be dropped.

2023-11-12 20:22:00
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