Demonstrators hold banners and Spanish flags during a protest in Madrid,Spain,on Sunday.Credit:AP
The government's proposal last Tuesday to appoint a rapporteur in talks among political parties to address the Catalan independence crisis has galvanised the opposition,which deems it a betrayal and a surrender to pressure from Catalan separatists.
The protest Sunday came two days before the start of a landmark trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders,which is also likely to stir up emotions over a territorial conflict that remains at the top of Spain's political agenda. The defendants are accused of rebellion and other crimes stemming from their declaration of their region's independence in the autumn of 2017.
On Sunday,Pablo Casado,the leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party,told protesters,many of whom were waving Spanish flags,that Sánchez had been negotiating"under the table"with Catalan separatist politicians. He called on the prime minister"to stop immediately the dialogue with those who want to break up Spain"and to hold instead a snap general election.
Sánchez said before the protest that he was working"to resolve a crisis of state that the Popular Party aggravated while it was in office,"particularly during the secessionist turmoil of 2017.
Thousands of Spaniards in Madrid joined a rally called by right-wing political parties to demand that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez step down.Credit:AP
In October of that year,the crisis in Catalonia boiled over when a separatist majority of MPs in the Catalan regional Parliament unilaterally declared independence,prompting the central government in Madrid to impose direct rule on Catalonia. Their declaration followed an independence referendum won by secessionists.
Spanish courts had ruled the referendum unconstitutional even before it was held,but the vote was held anyway amid clashes between Spain's national police and people going to the polls.