40,000 people march in Spain against amnesty for Catalan separatists

MADRID, Sep 24 (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to remain in office after elections that failed. could win.

Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition Popular Party (PP) traveled from all over Spain to attend the demonstration in Madrid. Authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 40,000 people.

Sanchez, who came second in July’s election, could remain in office if he wins the support of exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, whose Junts per Catalunya party controls seven seats in parliament.

Puigdemont, wanted in Spain for attempting to secede from the region, has demanded that legal action against his fellow separatists be dropped as a condition of his support.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PP leader who won the most votes on July 23, said he would never give in to amnesty demands for organizers of Catalonia’s 2017 independence referendum, which was held despite courts ruling which was illegal.

Withdrawing criminal cases against the separatists would be equivalent to granting an amnesty to the “coup plotters,” he told his supporters at the Madrid rally.

Gregorio Castañeda, a 72-year-old pensioner, had traveled from Santander, on Spain’s northern coast, to show his opposition to any amnesty.

“I am not in favor of the government we have. For me this is a disaster because it is going to divide Spain totally,” he told Reuters.

Sánchez held his own political rally on Sunday in Gavá, near Barcelona, ​​the regional capital of Catalonia. He did not mention an amnesty, but said the socialists wanted to heal social divisions over the Catalan crisis.

“We’re trying to turn the page,” he told his followers.

In 2021, Sánchez granted clemency to nine separatists imprisoned for their role in the independence push.

Feijoo will take the first step in the vote to become prime minister on September 27, but his chances of winning are considered slim as the PP opposes any concessions to the separatists. If Feijoo fails, Sánchez will have the opportunity to see if he can rally support.

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.