Thousands of protesters marched on the morning of this Saturday through the center of Madrid to protest against the “corrupt and traitorous government” of Pedro Sánchez and to demand early general elections. Among countless Spanish flags, the attendees — estimated by the Government Delegation at around 40,000 — displayed banners with slogans such as “Dissolution of the socialist mafia” and shouted chants like “Sánchez, son of a bitch!” or “Sánchez, go to Venezuela!”. The “March for Dignity,” called by the association Sociedad Civil Española — made up of about a hundred entities that have already joined several times to protest in the streets against President Sánchez — was supported by PP Vox and was planned before the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for influence peddling and other crimes related to the Venezuelan airline Plus Ultra. During the two hours the gathering lasted, some moments of tension were experienced. The Government Delegation reports that three arrests were made and seven police officers were injured.
The decision of the National Court judge José Luis Calama, announced on Tuesday, marked a protest attended by members of Vox, PP, and Se Acabó la Fiesta. “Zapatero will end up in jail. And we’ll see if Sánchez does too…,” commented one of the protesters among the crowd. From the ultras, their president, Santiago Abascal, and other members of the party attended; and from the PP side, leaders such as the spokesperson in the Senate, Alicia García, as well as other deputies and senators; and the leader of SALF, Alvise Pérez. The broker Víctor de Aldama, indicted in the Koldo case as the corrupting link, in a process connected to the Plus Ultra case, also appeared at the protest, being highly sought after by attendees for photos and was acclaimed.
The march began at 10:30 in Colón Square and the protesters completed the route at the Moncloa arch around 12:15, after passing through streets in central Madrid such as Génova, Sagasta, and Princesa. A small faction of the protest tried to reach the Moncloa Palace via the highway, but the police prevented it. At that point, some moments of tension with the officers were experienced. “All of Spain to Moncloa!”, they shouted. “Or to Zapatero’s house!”, they added. Slogans against Muslims were also heard. The march dissolved around 13:00 without serious incidents apart from the three arrests and the seven injured police officers. Most of the flags present were constitutional, although some pre-constitutional ones and several standards with the Cross of Burgundy were seen.
At the head of the gathering were leaders of Sociedad Civil Española, such as Marcos de Quinto, and politicians like Vox MEP Juan Carlos Girauta and former president of the Community of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre. “Corruption has a price, no more impunity, elections now,” is the inscription on the banner leading the march. Vox has a strong presence at the demonstration: it has set up its own tent and also carries another large cloth as a secondary banner. “Removing Sánchez is also a national priority,” reads their banner.
The motion of no confidence, in the background
The demonstration comes after days in which the debate between PP and Vox has revolved around the pressure exerted by the ultras on Alberto Núñez Feijóo, demanding that he present a motion of no confidence. The Popular Party resists. At the start of the march, Abascal announced that his party has requested provisional imprisonment for Zapatero in the courts, already part of the private prosecution of the case, as well as the summoning as witnesses of several ministers. “There are already too many presumption of innocence. No one believes that Sánchez is not behind it,” said the Vox leader, who tried to divert the topic of the motion of no confidence so as not to “cloud this demonstration.” However, he left a veiled message for the Popular Party. “Everyone does what they can with the instruments they have at their disposal,” said Abascal, who does not have the minimum number necessary for his parliamentary group to present its own motion of no confidence, as the PP does. “It is in my hands to go to the courts,” he concluded.
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A few minutes before Abascal’s statements, the PP spokesperson in the Senate, Alicia García, spoke to the media. In the upper chamber, where they have an absolute majority and control parliamentary times and agenda, the Populars have announced that they will call Zapatero’s secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, identified by the judge as an “essential operative piece” of the alleged network, as well as other figures related to the alleged network. They are also considering requesting the appearances of the former president’s daughters.
“We are four votes short,” García insisted regarding the possibility of presenting a motion of no confidence or not. Her group can register it in Congress, but Feijóo reiterates that it would not succeed because it only has the support of his party and Vox. “At this moment we are not going to gift Pedro Sánchez a victory with a failed motion, in any case,” added the spokesperson in the Senate.
Like Feijóo, García has shifted the pressure to the partners. “They will know if they want to continue tied to the corruption of the Government, to the sanchist corruption, or if they want to separate, isolate themselves somehow, because they have been supporting the corruption of this Government,” she stressed. And she expressed that, with the lifting of the summary, expected in the coming days, the data derived from it will continue to pace the steps of their parliamentary offensive.
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