More than 30,000 people, according to the Government Delegation - the conveners raise the figure, far from reality, to half a million - have gathered this Saturday around the Plaza de Cibeles, in Madrid, against the Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
The protest, called by a hundred associations and groups, has been attended by leaders and members of Vox, such as Santiago Abascal (the only national leader present at the rally);
of the PP, (Miguel Tellado deputy secretary of organization; Pedro Rollán, deputy secretary of Regional and Local Coordination; Dolors Montserrat, spokesperson in the European Parliament; or the deputy Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo), and of Ciudadanos (Inés Arrimadas, former leader of the party and Begoña Villacís, Vice Mayor of Madrid).
The former leader of UPyD Rosa Díez,
the former PP politician Aleix Vidal-Quadras, the philosopher Fernando Savater and the writer Andrés Trapiello.
Júlia Calvet, president of the S'ha acabat collective, and Nacho Trillo, president of the Resiste España association, read—interrupted on several occasions by shouts of "Sánchez resign!", "Sánchez to prison!"
and “¡Sánchez dictador!”—a manifesto that claimed that democracy is in danger.
“Various examples throughout history and, currently, the Spanish-American experience, show us that a military or violent coup d'état is not necessary to turn our systems into a mere democratic formality, devoid of authentic content.
Democratic regimes can mutate without military uprisings to collectivist populism.
Regimes in which the separation of powers, the rule of law, fundamental rights or the freedom of business become mere caricatures”, read the manifesto read in Cibeles.
In the opinion of the associations that have supported the protest, among which are Neos, of the former Minister of the Interior with Aznar Jaime Mayor Oreja or Unión 78, of the former president of UPyD Rosa Díez,
the "actions" of the Sánchez government reveal "a hidden constitutional mutation plan" that "is being agreed with the representatives of totalitarian populism, secessionist nationalisms and the heirs of ETA's discourse of terror."
To
To mutate
the Constitution, however, a three-fifths majority in the Cortes is necessary, an amount that is currently not reached by the parties of the coalition government and the investiture partners to which the manifesto alluded.
Abascal has assured that he went together with "thousands of Spaniards" to demonstrate against "the worst Government in the history" of Spain, which "has trampled on the Constitution by locking up the Spaniards", alluding to the confinement due to the pandemic, while "letting go of rapists, terrorists and coup plotters”.
And he has called for a "permanent and massive mobilization until the expulsion of the autocrat Pedro Sánchez from power."
On his part, the deputy secretary of Organization of the PP, Miguel Tellado, has justified the absence of his party leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, alleging that the role of the act corresponded to civil society.
His attendance, and that of other popular officials, he explained, responded to the need to tell the Government to stop "putting the institutions at the service of those who do not believe in the State and extreme left populism."
At his side, the general secretary of the Madrid PP, Alfonso Serrano, has put the rally in an electoral key by assuring that "Madrid will be the tomb of Sanchismo on May 28", the date of the municipal and regional elections.
The Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has not attended the protest despite the fact that this week she has said that she supported her "strongly".
The PP has decided to keep a low profile in the protest in its new strategy of moving away from the Vox agenda.
Arrimadas has said that the members of Ciudadanos (among whom were not the components of the new leadership) attended the act "proud and without complexes" to "defend Spain, democracy and freedom" against Sánchez.
For his part, Villacís has called for the union of all "constitutionalists" with the aim of "reversing everything that has been done" from the Government "to dismantle the rule of law."
More than 30,000 people, according to the Government Delegation, have gathered this Saturday around the Plaza de Cibeles, in Madrid, against the Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
The protest, called by a hundred associations and groups, was attended by leaders and members of Vox, the PP and Ciudadanos.
The protest had the slogan 'For Spain, democracy and the Constitution', and has been called by Foro España Cívica and Fundación Foro Libertad y Alternativa to criticize the latest government decisions.Andrea Comas
The protest had the slogan "For Spain, democracy and the Constitution", and has been called by Foro España Cívica and Fundación Foro Libertad y Alternativa to criticize the latest government decisions. SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)
The protest has had the support of the PP, Vox and Ciudadanos, but the only national leader who has attended has been Santiago Abascal, who has been "convinced" of the "need for a permanent and massive mobilization until the expulsion of the autocrat Pedro Sánchez of power”. Fernando Sánchez (Europa Press)
For its part, the national PP was represented this Saturday by several members of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's team: the vice-secretary for Regional and Local Coordination, Pedro Rollán, the vice-secretary for Organization, Miguel Tellado, and the spokesperson for the PP in the European Parliament , Dolors Montserrat.Víctor Lerena (EFE)
Demonstrators show a banner with the images of Oriol Junqueras, Pablo Iglesias, Arnaldo Otegi and Pedro Sánchez. Víctor Lerena (EFE)
The former president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguire, attended the demonstration. Víctor Lerena (EFE)
"It is not about left, right or center, but it is about not remaining impassive in the face of the serious erosion of our institutions, the deterioration of our democracy and the weakening of our State", assured the manifesto read during the concentration. Fernando Sanchez (Europa Press)
While reading the text, those gathered, a large part of them dressed in the Spanish flag, burst into shouting several times demanding Sánchez's resignation.
"Freedom, freedom, freedom", they demanded in some of the pauses in the reading of the manifesto. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (AFP)
Concentration this Saturday in the Plaza de la Cibeles in Madrid against the Government of Pedro Sánchez. SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)
A man waves a Spanish flag in the Plaza de Cibeles.
The manifesto read has highlighted the concern and rejection of the conveners for "political drift" and ensures that the Executive has a "constitutional mutation plan" that Sánchez "wants to hide from the public."
SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)
The demonstrators also shouted labels such as "traitor" and "liar" addressed to the President of the Government and slogans such as "United Spain will never be defeated". Fernando Sánchez (Europa Press)
A flag with Francoist symbols during the demonstration against the Executive of Pedro Sánchez. Fernando Sánchez (Europa Press)
General view of the Plaza de Cibeles, in an image taken from the Madrid City Hall. SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)
Both the banners and the songs mixed the themes: ETA —“Que vote Txapote”—;
to the anti-vaccination —"Ictus, infertility, thrombi and deaths"—;
against the modification of the Criminal Code to repeal the crime of sedition and modify the crime of embezzlement, against linguistic plurality —"Speak Spanish", several signs demanded— or against the international forum of Davos, where Sánchez and the greats of the Ibex recently parked the tension of the last few months.
Those attending the protest have criticized the "release" of ETA members who, according to the manifesto read in Cibeles, "go out through the back door" thanks to the Government.
It is the judges who decide both the releases and the granting of third degrees.
Yes, the coalition Executive has intervened - like the previous ones of the PP - in the approach of prisoners to prisons near the Basque Country.
The General Penitentiary Law establishes in its article 12: “The location of the penitentiary establishments will be fixed by the penitentiary administration within the designated territorial areas.
In any case, efforts will be made to ensure that each one has a sufficient number of them to satisfy prison needs and avoid social uprooting.
One of the most celebrated banners was the one that called for the return of the compulsory military service.
Mari Paz and Javier held her.
"The new generations are devoid of values and that was achieved with the military," explained Mari Paz, holding the left stick.
“But for males and females, for everyone.
Maybe not as long as before, but you have to get it back ”, Javier clarified, at the right post, while he thanked the applause of the protesters who passed by.
Other posters asked the king, Felipe VI, to stay away from Sánchez.
On one of the screens placed in the square, calls for the unity of the Monarch and a cryptic phrase were displayed: "The right to diversity is not the same as the diversity of rights."
More information
Demonstration in Madrid against the Government, in pictures
The act began with boos, but not Sánchez, but rather the organizers, who asked the attendees to lower the Spanish flags into the microphone so as not to hinder the camera shot of the televisions and the photographers who focused on the tribune where they were going. to read the manifesto.
In the protest there were several pre-constitutional flags.
Asked why he had decided to carry the flag with the eaglet and not the current one, one of the protesters explained: "Because this is the only flag that represents me."
A moment of the concentration in Cibeles, this Saturday.
Andrea Comas