Nearly 40 Injured After Madrid Protest against Catalan Amnesty Degenerates into Melee

The protest started late on November 7 outside the headquarters of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol, or PSOE), led by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. As part of negotiations to form a new government, he expressed support for an initiative to offer amnesty to Catalan separatists in a bid to win support for the PSOE from pro-independence Catalan parties. According to an RTVE broadcast, police began dispersing the demonstrators close to midnight. During the ensuing riot, around 39 people were injured, 29 of whom were law enforcement officers. According to the authorities, six people were detained, TASS reported.

The day before, on November 6, a similar protest took place at the headquarters of the PSOE that also led to clashes with police. As a result, three people were detained. Many rallies involving thousands of protesters against the amnesty proposal for Catalan separatists had already taken place earlier in Spain, but all ended without incident.

Sanchez expressed his support for the amnesty initiative at talks on forming a new Spanish government. On October 24 an agreement between the PSOE and the left-wing Sumar alliance was announced on forming a coalition government in the Iberian country. According to the results of Spain’s general elections in July, the PSOE won 121 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies (lower house of the Cortes Generales, or Spanish parliament), while Sumar won 31 seats.

As a result, the two allied political forces lacked enough seats to bring Sanchez back as head of the government without bringing in another coalition partner. Thus, the PSOE must seek support from other parliamentary parties, including Catalan political forces that advocate for independence for the "autonomous community" of Catalonia in northeastern Spain.