About 100,000 people, according to Vox and the Government delegation, gathered this Sunday in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid to protest against the president, Pedro Sánchez, and the amnesty for the Catalan independence leaders, promising to “respond ” if the grace measure is approved.
The demonstration, formally called by the Foundation for the Defense of the Spanish Nation (Denaes) under the slogan ‘Against amnesty and the coup of Sánchez!’, was supported by the leadership of Vox with Abascal at the head and representatives from training, in addition to recognized political faces, such as Esperanza Aguirre – in a personal capacity, as he explained -, Juan Carlos Girauta or Marcos de Quinto. Also in more than 60 associations, including NEOS, which was initiated by the former Minister of the Interior Jaime Mayor Oreja.
The event, where choruses of “Puigdemont to prison”, “Otegi terrorist” and shouts against the Government were heard, lasted less than an hour and came after Sánchez defended the amnesty before the Federal Committee of the PSOE.
It has interventions from Abascal, conveners and civil society associations that participated. The leader of Vox warned Sánchez about the “consequences of considering the Constitution, the laws and the equality of Spaniards broken” if he approves the amnesty, suggesting that he should go into exile. “Let (Carles) Puigdemont prepare the guest room for him in Waterloo,” he said.
A “strange maneuver”
As convener, the president of Denaes, Iván Vélez, told the crowd that amnesty “will mean thinking that the coups are right, that Spain is a tyrannical country that uses institutions to violate its citizens.” As he indicated, “it is strange that a Government obsessed with memory”, in reference to Historical Memory, “want us to forget the coup that was carried out in 2017.”
In addition, he warned that, after the amnesty, there would come “some strange maneuver” that would allow a referendum on self-determination in Catalonia, which “of course” would also be unacceptable. “They are already saying that they will do it and we will respond again,” he warned. In these lines, he assured that secession is “stealing a part of the country”, something that is “unacceptable.” “We are all responsible, we must do everything possible to avoid this abuse and the balkanization of Spain.”
