The massive demonstration, organized under the rallying cry “S\u00e1nchez, resign now!”, saw protesters march from Plaza de Col\u00f3n to the Victory Arch in Spain’s capital. While government officials estimated attendance at around 40,000, organizers claimed the crowd exceeded 120,000 participants, according to public broadcaster RTVS.<\/p>\n
The protest erupted following the indictment this week of Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero<\/strong>, S\u00e1nchez’s predecessor as prime minister, on charges of influence peddling and money laundering connected to Venezuela. Zapatero allegedly received \u20ac1.95 million for himself and associates through the scheme, which centered on a \u20ac53 million government bailout of Plus Ultra airline following the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n Zapatero’s long-standing relationships with Venezuelan socialist leaders Hugo Ch\u00e1vez and Nicol\u00e1s Maduro have drawn sustained criticism from Spanish opposition figures. The former prime minister’s indictment represents the latest in a series of corruption scandals striking the Socialist Workers’ Party leadership, following charges against S\u00e1nchez’s wife, Bego\u00f1a G\u00f3mez<\/strong>, who faces allegations of influence peddling and embezzlement tied to her position as first lady.<\/p>\n Santiago Abascal<\/strong>, leader of the right-wing populist VOX party, addressed the Madrid gathering, calling for Zapatero’s imprisonment pending trial and demanding that S\u00e1nchez provide testimony. “There is no one left in Pedro S\u00e1nchez’s entourage who is not accused of very serious crimes,”<\/em> Abascal declared, describing Spain as “kidnapped by a corrupt mafia that is impoverishing the Spanish people.”<\/em><\/p>\n Members of the centre-right People’s Party (PP) also participated in Saturday’s demonstration. Alicia Garc\u00eda<\/strong>, the party’s Senate spokeswoman, joined thousands of Spaniards in calling for fresh elections. She condemned what she termed the systematic corruption of “Sanchismo,” stating that while Spanish citizens endured pandemic hardships, S\u00e1nchez’s Socialist party was accumulating wealth improperly.<\/p>\n Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o<\/strong>, the PP’s party leader, addressed party members gathering separately in Mallorca on Saturday. He contended that Zapatero could not have engaged in corrupt dealings without explicit backing from S\u00e1nchez’s government and the Council of Ministers, effectively implicating the prime minister in the scheme’s framework.<\/p>\n Feij\u00f3o questioned whether any Socialist Party members retained conscience regarding the administration’s conduct, characterizing the governing party’s corruption as “worse than the mafia,”<\/em> given its pervasive reach into family networks and state institutions.<\/p>\n The Saturday protest resulted in three arrests and injuries to seven police officers, as demonstrators attempted to reach the Palacio de la Moncloa, Spain’s seat of government, before being dispersed by law enforcement.<\/p>\n Political observers note that S\u00e1nchez has increasingly sought to redirect international attention from domestic scandals, recently restricting American military operations from Spanish bases during regional tensions with Iran\u2014a posture framing him as opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump on the global stage.<\/p>\nOpposition Demands Accountability<\/h2>\n
Tensions at Demonstration Site<\/h2>\n