Sanchez Assumes the Presidency of Spain Amid Righ-Wing Protests

On Thursday, the Spanish Congress began a session for the investiture of Pedro Sanchez as president of the Government of Spain. He was reelected with 179 votes in favor, 171 against, and no abstention.

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Spain: Right-Wing Activists Protest Against Catalan Amnesty

Sanchez was supported by left-wing, pro-independence, nationalist and regionalist parties, with which he reached agreements after being proposed as a candidate by King Felipe VI on October 3.

Over this week, however, right-wing activists have been protesting around Congress against the leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), whom they consider to be the perpetrator of a "coup d'état."

“Sanchez, Traitor”, “Amnesty is Tyranny”, and “We are Going to Stop This Coup” were some slogans that right-wingers chanted in rejection of a law agreed between the PSOE and the legislators supporting the pro-independence referendum that the Catalans carried out in 2017.

When the result of the vote was announced, some right-wing activists mobilized beyond security fences shouting “It's Not an Investiture, It's a Dictatorship” and “He's Not a President, He's a Criminal."

They also demanded that the pro-independence Catalan leaders, who were pardoned by the Socialist administration, be arrested and sent to prison again.

The right-wing protesters made proclamations against the Spanish press, which they defined as "manipulative" and "delinquent."

Previously, there were moments of tension when a woman stood in the middle of the right-wing rally with a banner asking to respect the electoral result. She was harassed by anti-amnesty activists and the police had to escort her out of the place.