Police in Madrid have clashed for a second night with protesters who oppose negotiations between Spain’s acting government and Catalan separatist parties over a possible amnesty for thousands involved in Catalonia’s independence movement.
Several protesters waved Spanish flags and shouted insults against acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez, and some self-identified as “nazis” in chants.
The protesters pushed against barriers set by police in riot gear, who responded with rubber bullets and batons.
The government said Tuesday’s gathering at the gates of the national headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party was attended by around 7,000 people, roughly double the number that took part the day before.
There were similar protests in other Spanish cities.
Three people were arrested on Monday, the central authorities’ representative in the Spanish capital said, including two men for violent behaviour against police and one woman for disobedience.
A spokeswoman for the far-right Vox party, which holds the third-most seats in the national parliament, said on Tuesday that the party did not back the violence at the gatherings, but it supported the anti-government protest.
Vox’s leader, Santiago Abascal, attended Monday’s event in Madrid.
Mr Sanchez, the Socialists’ leader, condemned the protests, saying they were led by “reactionaries”.
“(I extend) all my warmth and support for the Socialist Party members who are suffering harassment by reactionaries at their local headquarters,” he wrote on social media.
“To attack the headquarters of Spain’s Socialist Party is to attack democracy.”
Mr Sanchez is negotiating with the Catalan separatist parties to receive their backing in his bid to form a new government and keep his centre-left coalition in power after an inconclusive national election in July.
But the two separatist parties have demanded a sweeping amnesty that would include their leaders who fled Spain after their failed 2017 secession attempt, in exchange for their votes in parliament, among other concessions.
That has angered many in Spain, including leading opposition parties on the right who accuse Mr Sanchez of bending to lawbreakers.
Spain’s conservative Popular Party, the main opposition party, has called for its own protest against the amnesty negotiations for Sunday, in public squares in each provincial capital.
“I am not going to allow that my country has to ask forgiveness to those who attacked its institutions,” Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said.
There had been other protests in recent weeks, but they remained peaceful.
Mr Sanchez has until November 27th to form a new government or parliament will be automatically dissolved and new elections called for January.
Despite losing steam in recent years, Catalonia’s separatist movement retains strong support in the wealthy north east region including control of the regional government.
