Enlarge image
Demonstrators in Madrid: Against the division of the country
Photo: JAVIER BARBANCHO / REUTERS
Waving flags, full streets: tens of thousands demonstrated in the Spanish capital Madrid against the planned pardon of Catalan separatists by the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The conservative association Unión 78 had called for the rally.
Opposition leader Pablo Casado called on Sánchez "not to sell the unity of Spain".
Sánchez's minority government depends on the votes of the separatists for a majority in parliament.
The Prime Minister plans to release the politicians convicted of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum from prison - as a basis for resolving the conflict.
Twelve Catalan politicians had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years for their role in the illegal independence referendum and the attempted separation of the economically strong region in north-east Spain.
The population of Catalonia is divided into roughly two equal blocks of supporters and opponents of independence.
A pardon is risky for the Prime Minister, however, because the detainees are sticking to the breakup of Catalonia - and their pardon is obviously unpopular in the rest of Spain.
sbo / dpa
