The signing today of the pact between the PSOE and Junts for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, which includes granting amnesty to those accused of the procés, has agitated and increased participation in the protests that have been held daily for a week in front of the socialist federal headquarters of Madrid, on Calle de Ferraz. and in front of other party offices in several provinces. The seventh rally in the capital began in front of the European Parliament delegation, on the Paseo de la Castellana, where some 1,500 people gathered before leaving for Ferraz, which forced traffic to be cut at numerous points. The Government Delegation in Madrid has estimated the participation tonight at about 8,000 people, the largest concentration of the week, after Wednesday's, which brought together 7,000. The protests have also brought together 3,000 people in Grenada. Despite the tension and verbal violence, the rallies have been generally peaceful, with many participants containing those who showed more exalted or aggressive attitudes, within a neo-Nazi aesthetic. However, in Madrid, groups of radicals have thrown firecrackers and flares against the riot police, who in the end have charged to disperse these violent groups, which have subsequently dedicated themselves to persecuting journalists, until they have been stopped by the police. At least 14 people have been arrested, according to the Government Delegation.
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The PSOE and Junts agree on the investiture and close the agreement on amnesty
A first part of the protest in the capital was in front of the offices of the European Parliament, but later the attendees marched to Ferraz. The passage of the demonstrators from the Paseo de la Castellana through the boulevards of Madrid has been accompanied by traffic cuts by the Police, without incidents. At the front, the participants carried the poster of Revuelta, the youth branch of Vox, with the slogan "Let's stop the betrayal!" Some cars have cheered them on with the horn and some neighbors have come out of the balconies and shouted "Long live Spain!" The demonstrators proclaim: "They are not fooling us, Catalonia is Spain!", "We are fed up!", and, again, "Puigdemont, to prison!".
Once they arrived in Ferraz, the demonstrators positioned themselves as in previous days in front of a large police barrier. The attendees shouted the usual slogans of recent days, mainly against Pedro Sánchez. The anti-riot agents of the National Police remain in a state of relative alert. The cry of "let Txapote vote for you" was the most chanted. The front row of the protest, where last Tuesday young people with ultra paraphernalia were grouped from the beginning, has been occupied in the first moments by people of different ages and with their faces uncovered.
The demonstration against the amnesty in Madrid, live
The protest in Madrid, which was attended by parents with children, gradually heated up, with shouts such as "Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch!", "That police are with amnesty!", "Tomorrow you will say that there are five or six of us!", "To Moncloa, oee!" and "! Otegi, ETA member, your mother is a!" Large Spanish flags with slogans of "Long live the unity of Spain!" were waved in the area and posters of "Welcome to 36 Vol. II" were displayed. The most frequent flag tonight has been the Spanish flag with a huge hole and without the constitutional coat of arms.
More elaborate banners have also been seen with messages not seen in previous days. Many of these are written in English and ask Europe for help, even linking the amnesty law to terrorism. "Europe save us from terrorism" or "PSOE is killing Spanish democracy" are two examples. There are also signs that read "Amnesty for criminals is condemning criminals".
📹 VIDEO | Santiago Abascal is at the demonstration against amnesty in Madrid. Some attendees ask him for selfies and shout "Abascal, President!" https://t.co/PyHeek9LDS pic.twitter.com/QUKlSe8cB0
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) November 9, 2023
The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has joined the rally in Ferraz against the amnesty. On his arrival he was applauded by the participants, who celebrated with shouts of "President!" The leader of the ultra formation did not want to take the megaphone offered to him by a protester to be able to speak to the people who have come to the rally. "I come as one more Spaniard in the face of the greatest attack on the unity of Spain of the entire democratic period," he said.
From ten o'clock in the evening, radical groups, many wearing masks, began to throw some isolated objects. First it was a couple of firecrackers, followed by several empty beer cans. Flares have also fallen. Most of those standing by the Ferraz fence are young people proclaiming "Felipe, Freemason, defend your nation!", "Here are the nationalists! or "Feijóo, listen, you're next!" Also some "Long live the Almudena!" and "José Antonio, Primo de Rivera!".
📹 VIDEO | The demonstrators retreat after the riot police act. Many of the groups have broken up and at least one person has been arrested https://t.co/PyHeek9LDS pic.twitter.com/by9R6YiQo5
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) November 9, 2023
The peaceful demonstrators have retreated to make a gap between themselves and the hotheads, many of whom salute the Roman, like the Nazis. The riot police charged at around 22:45 p.m. to drive out the most violent groups, who had been booed by numerous participants. The most radical have burned containers, near a subway entrance, and have thrown objects at the police. Subsequently, they persecuted journalists, hurling objects and insults at them. Ten people have been arrested as a result of the riots, according to the Government Delegation in Madrid.
📹 VIDEO | Sit-in of some of the resisting demonstrators, encapsulated by the police. They hum the Spanish anthem https://t.co/PyHeek9LDS pic.twitter.com/4uv6W7OIcS
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) November 9, 2023
In Granada, more than 3,000 people, according to the local police, have attended a call in the city center at eight in the evening. An hour earlier, however, hundreds of people had already gathered. Insults against the socialist leader and "let Txapote vote for you" and "Christian Spain never Muslim" have been some of the slogans chanted, reports Javier Arroyo.
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, what was a call in a square has become a demonstration towards the headquarters of the Government Subdelegation, on the Gran Vía de Colón. There have been no incidents and the National Police are escorting the demonstration at the moment calmly and without riot gear, reports Luis Velasco.
A moment of the demonstration against the amnesty held in front of the Government Delegation, this Thursday in BarcelonaEnric Fontcuberta (EFE)
Shouting "Let's get them!", around 50 people joined the protest in Barcelona, which totalled about 300 people at the corner of Mallorca and Roger de Llùria, next to the Government Delegation. The new demonstrators carry banners that read "Revolt." They shout "Christian and not Muslim Spain". They crowd in front of the fences put up by the Mossos, which separates the delegation from the street. The Mossos d'Esquadra cordoned off the square to prevent the protest from affecting traffic on nearby Diagonal Avenue. Demonstrators cheer Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who was shot this afternoon on Calle Núñez de Balboa in Madrid: "We are not alone, Vidal is missing." The leader of Vox in Catalonia, Ignacio Garriga, is present at the demonstration.
Ignacio Garriga, a Vox deputy in the Catalan parliament, joined the demonstration in Barcelona, where he was greeted with cheers and applause. The atmosphere at the protest remains calm, although the trickle of people is constant. Garriga joins in the cry "Long live Spain!" Jorge Buxadé, Member of the European Parliament for Vox, has also joined this protest.
Some of the radicals have burned street furniture in Madrid.
Several demonstrators hold Spanish flags during clashes with police in Madrid on Thursday.Samuel Sanchez
Those gathered in the front row of the protest in Madrid, in front of the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street, throw a flare. Samuel Sanchez
Several people during a sit-in at a protest on Ferraz Street.Samuel Sanchez
Rally this Thursday in front of the headquarters of the PSPV-PSOE in Valencia against the investiture pacts of the acting president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.Biel Aliño (EFE)
Demonstrators throw firecrackers at police on Calle Ferraz in Madrid. NACHO DOCE (REUTERS)
Those gathered in the front row of the protest in Madrid, in front of the headquarters of the PSOE in Madrid.Samuel Sánchez
Demonstrators gathered against the amnesty in front of the PSOE headquarters on Calle de Ferraz in Madrid, this Thursday. Samuel Sanchez
A young man with a megaphone took part in the protest in front of the European Parliament on Madrid's Paseo de la Castellana on Thursday. Samuel Sanchez
Demonstrators held a banner with the slogan #SanchezVeteYa during the demonstration against the amnesty called in front of the PSOE headquarters in Madrid.PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (AFP)
Demonstrators wave Spanish flags during the protest in front of the PSOE headquarters on Calle Ferraz with Marqués de Urquijo in Madrid.Samuel Sánchez
Police cordon at the corner of Calle de Ferraz and Calle de Marqués de Urquijo in Madrid, during the protest against the amnesty. Samuel Sanchez
Rally in front of the headquarters of the PSPV-PSOE in Valencia against the pact between the PSOE and Junts.Biel Aliño (EFE)
A moment from the demonstration against the amnesty held in front of the Government Delegation in Barcelona, this Thursday. Enric Fontcuberta (EFE)
A man holds a Spanish flag without a shield in front of the PSOE headquarters on Calle Ferraz in Madrid, on Thursday. Samuel Sanchez
Rally against the amnesty held this Thursday at the headquarters of the PSOE in Toledo. Ángeles Visdómine (EFE)
Several hundred people attended Thursday's rally on Calle Princesa de Murcia, where the regional headquarters of the PSOE are located, to protest against the amnesty law. Marcial Guillén (EFE)
Young people lit candles during the demonstration in front of the European Parliament in Madrid on Thursday. SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)
Flags of Spain and Catalonia are waved by demonstrators in front of the PSOE headquarters in Madrid.Samuel Sánchez
Dozens of people left the headquarters of the European Parliament in Madrid for Calle de Ferraz against the amnesty. Matías Chiofalo (Europa Press)
A protester shows an image of the Immaculate Conception in front of the socialist headquarters in Madrid.Samuel Sánchez
The president of VOX in Murcia and vice-president of the regional government, José Ángel Antelo (third from the left), accompanied by the councillor in the Murcia City Council Luis Gestoso (on the left) and the Minister of Development of Murcia, José Manuel Pancorbo (second from the right), among others, attend this Thursday's rally on Princesa de Murcia street, where the regional headquarters of the PSOE is located. Marcial Guillén (EFE)
Demonstrators held banners in front of a police cordon on Madrid's Calle de Ferraz.Samuel Sánchez
Rally in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Spain, on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.Samuel Sánchez
In the largest concertation in front of the socialist headquarters in Valencia on the occasion of the negotiation of the amnesty in recent days, hundreds of people protest and call for the resignation of the acting president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, and the imprisonment of Carles Puigdemont, reports Ferrán Bono. The announcement of the pact between the PSOE and Junts has encouraged attendance and the insults against Sánchez, and "the terrorist socialists", the proclamations for the unity of Spain, and for a "Spain, Christian and not Muslim" have multiplied. There are also more cries against the "manipulative Spanish press" than on previous occasions. The Valencian leadership of Vox has been seen at the rally, with the national deputies Carlos Flores Juberías and Ignacio Gil Lázaro at the head. There have been a few moments of discussion among the demonstrators when some have begun to shout that "the Constitution is destroying the nation" and others have denied it.
The rally in front of the PSOE headquarters in Alicante called by Revuelta for today lasted barely 45 minutes, again without informing the authorities, reports Rafa Burgos. A third of those present yesterday, about 150 people, including Vox councillors Carmen Robledillo and Mario Ortolá. While yesterday the police ended up breaking up the rally at 22.30 p.m., with some slight altercation, today it was the organizers themselves who put an end to the protest, with the Spanish anthem as the closing.
Rally this Thursday in front of the headquarters of the PSPV-PSOE in Valencia.Biel Aliño (EFE)