A small group of protesters attempted to break through the railings around the residence of Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez today during a massive rally demanding his resignation following a series of corruption scandals.
Police detained a group of people with their faces covered on the main road leading to Madrid’s Moncloa Palace, where Sanchez lives with his family, according to footage broadcast on Spanish television.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators held banners with slogans including “Resign the socialist mafia” along with Spanish flags at the March for Dignity, organised by the Spanish Civil Society Association.
Leaders of the opposition Popular Party and the far-right Vox party also took part in the march, which was largely peaceful.
A Spanish court said on Tuesday that Spain’s Socialist former Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero was being investigated for allegedly leading an influence-peddling and money-laundering network, in another blow to a leftist government rocked by corruption scandals.
Organizers said 80,000 people took part in the protests, although a spokesman for the Spanish government in Madrid said there were about 40,000 demonstrators.
