Tens of thousands of people have turned out for an anti-government protest in central Madrid

Tens of thousands of people have turned out for an anti-government protest in central Madrid, our correspondent reports.

The rally started at 12:00 local time (14:00 Moscow time) in Cibeles Square, where the city hall is located. Many protesters brought Spanish flags with them. The crowd chanted slogans calling for the resignation of the government and against current Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Some local opposition politicians also joined the rally.

According to the organisers of the demonstration, the kingdom is currently experiencing a “serious situation”. They called for protests “in defence of the constitution” and a “united and prosperous Spain” with “free and equal” people. “We warn of the deterioration of our democracy, the weakening of our state and the serious erosion of institutions,” the organisers of the protest said. – “We oppose the government being supported and defended by separatism, totalitarian populism and the successors of the political front [of the Basque terrorist group] ETA.

Organisers of the rally also opposed changes to the country’s penal code, from which the offence of sedition has been abolished. Catalan politicians involved in organising the illegal independence referendum in 2017 were convicted under this article in 2019. “We aim to show with this demonstration that a large part of society strongly rejects this deviation and is ready to defend democratically the values of the constitution and national unity, the guarantor of citizens’ equal rights,” the protest organisers added.

Video: Catherine Vorobieva/TASS

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Tens of thousands of people have turned out for an anti-government protest in central Madrid