"Massive Madrid Protest Challenges Spanish Amnesty Law Amidst Political Turmoil"

Around 170,000 people marched through Madrid in the largest protest against an amnesty law agreed upon by Spain's Socialists over Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. The law, which was part of a deal to form a government, has been criticized by judicial associations, opposition parties, and business leaders for threatening the rule of law and separation of powers. Protesters, waving Spanish flags and holding signs, expressed their opposition to the law and called Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a traitor. The amnesty will cover approximately 400 individuals involved in the independence bid, including separatists and police officers. This will be the largest amnesty in Spain since the 1977 blanket amnesty and the first in the European Union since 1991. Sanchez defended the law as a means to defuse tensions in Catalonia.