After several weekends of large, well-organized protests against acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’ concessions to Catalan separatists in exchange for their votes for his new government, smaller, ad hoc protests in cities, often organized on social media, continue throughout the country.
The movement shows the popular sentiment against the planned amnesty for leaders of the 2017 illegal referendum on Catalan independence, and general outrage that the government is at the mercy of the most radical elements of Catalan and Basque nationalism.
Throughout September and October, a series of demonstrations drew crowds of up to 200,000, and last weekend, the momentum continued, if smaller and more decentralized.
Friday, Saturday, and again on Monday, spontaneous protests with hundreds of people formed outside the headquarters of Sánchez’ party, El Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) in Madrid.
On Monday night, police dispersed the Madrid protests using tear gas after some protestors pushed through the barricades the police had put up to designate the protest zone and manage the area’s traffic. One protester was arrested.
VOX president Santiago Abascal was also present at the demonstration.
The group has called for another protest on Tuesday, November 7th.
Similar protests outside offices of the PSOE, though seemingly uninterrupted by police, were held in cities of various sizes all over the country—Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, el Puerto de Santa María, Oviedo, Salamanca, Tarragona, Sevilla, Badajoz, and others—all called by an ad hoc group naming itself “Revuelta.” According to Spanish media, it is an outgrowth of the culturally conservative university group Plataforma 711.
On Sunday, the center-right Partido Popular also managed to gather another 20,000 people in Valencia, a major city that is also part of the wider Catalan cultural region, to express opposition to an amnesty law for fugitive MEP Carles Puigdemont and others.
Police groups have organized in Barcelona as well to demonstrate their resistance to Sánchez’ plans. Several police union groups gathered outside the regional court in Barcelona on Sunday to protest the planned amnesty and the accusations against police of excessive force in acting to shut down the illegal referendum of 2017.
They have also lent support to another protest planned for Barcelona on November 12 organized by the group Cataluña Suma por España.
The following week, November 18th, organizers of the previous mass protest in Madrid are again calling on citizens to take to the streets of Madrid to support Spain’s territorial integrity and constitutional rule of law.
The continued demonstrations come as Sánchez continues negotiating with Catalan and Basque parties to ensure he has the support needed to form a government this week, though he and his party have yet to disclose the details of negotiations.
The protests erupted the same day a national-level court charged Catalan MEP and fugitive in Brussels Carles Puigdemont with terrorism for his involvement with the separatist organization Tsunami Democratico. Puigdemont was the regional president of Catalonia in 2017 and in that position oversaw the illegal referendum. He then quickly fled Spain to avoid arrest and has remained in Brussels since.
The charges are based on an investigation by the Guardia Civil that characterized Tsunami Democratico as an organization “whose essential purpose”, in the words of the judge, was “to subvert the constitutional order, economically and politically destabilize the State, and seriously alter public order through massive social mobilization.” The ruling categorizes the activist organization’s activities as “acts of terrorism.”
The judge also ruled that Puigdemont may have assisted in forming the organization and charged him with terrorism as well.
This seriously complicates Sánchez’ negotiations with Puigdemont’s party, which holds seven seats in parliament and key votes for the acting president to be able to form a new government. It also means that any amnesty for Piugdemont could be appealed in European courts where such a pardon is not permitted.
