Biggest protest in Spain against Catalan amnesty law draws 170,000

A general view of Cibeles square as people take part in a protest, after Spain's socialists reached a deal with the Catalan separatist Junts party for government support, which includes amnesties for people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in Madrid, Spain November 18, 2023. REUTERS/Susana Vera

MADRID (Reuters) - About 170,000 people marched through Madrid on Saturday in the largest protest yet against an amnesty law which Spain's Socialists agreed over Catalonia's 2017 separatist bid in order to form a government.

The demonstration, the latest in a series of protests in cities across the country against the amnesty, took place two days after Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez won a four-year term with the backing of Catalan and Basque nationalist parties in return for agreeing to the law.