Thousands of people came to the Debod Temple Square in Madrid on Sunday to support the People’s Party’s protest against the government of Pedro Sanchez. The march was attended by about 40,000 people, according to the government delegation, and up to 80,000 according to the People’s Party.
Many users on social media pointed out that there were not many people there, largely because the pedestrian area in the space housing the Egyptian temple is limited. One of them was the Minister of Transport, Oscar Puente, who noted in his account
Puente added that people are already “tired” of the “lies, exaggerations and manipulations” of the PP, adding an aerial photo of the place, where it can be seen that it is mostly occupied by the temple itself and the surrounding moat, as well as the presence of almost no people in the background.
Regarding the content of the protest, one of the interventions at the event was that of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, who emphasized that “ETA is preparing its attack on the Basque Country and Navarre while supporting Pedro Sánchez.”
The European Research Council’s congressional spokesman, Gabriel Ruffian, issued a comment that was as brief as it was forceful in dealing with Ayuso’s statement: “It’s a lie.”
Rebecca Toro, the SWP’s secretary of organization and electoral action, criticized Ayuso for bringing “the old ghosts out of the closet one more day to distract attention from the shed paid for with money from an alleged tax crime.”
This morning from Seville, Podemos MEP Irene Montero described the parallel marches called by the PP and VOX in Madrid as a “coup right” and an exercise in “wearing the fascist suit in Spain every time they see that their privileges and power are threatened.” This reaction occurs, according to Montero, when they realize that “in Spain it is possible to have progress, social transformations, feminism and social justice, to put an end to excessive ambition to achieve great fortunes.”
The former minister also considered that “this right-wing coup does not care about democracy. It is privatizing, dismantling public services, and stealing everyone’s money for its own benefit,” and chose “the strong left capable of overthrowing this right.”
Lara Hernandez, co-coordinator of Movimento Somar, spoke in similar vein, noting that the Popular Party did not demonstrate “to demand the constitutional right to housing, shorten the workday or end the genocide in Palestine, but with one goal: to overthrow the government.” Hernandez recalls, “When Somar presented an anti-corruption office to Congress, they voted against it. Without their support, the office would have been implemented. They are real hypocrites!”
“The People’s Party is the party of elites, emperors and oligarchs. The party of Gurtel, Bonica or Lizo,” Hernández concludes, asking not to accept “a single anti-corruption lesson” from them.