For weeks, various civic organizations have been announcing a large protest in Madrid against Pedro Sánchez's coup against the rule of law.
A protest announced 20 days ago and to be held on January 21
That demonstration began to spread on social networks on December 9 from the account of Twitter of the Foro Libertad y Alternativa, one of the convening groups, together with Foro España Cívica, Unión 78 and the NEOS platform. The demonstration was scheduled for Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. in Madrid's Colón Square, a regular setting for protests against the government of Pedro Sánchez and highly symbolic for being the place where the largest Spanish flag flies. Many organizations have expressed their support for this protest, which is expected to have a large public attendance.
The government prohibits holding the demonstration in the Colón Square
In a statement released by Rosa Díez, one of the people who are part of Unión 78, the conveners of the protest have denounced that the Government Delegation in Madrid has prohibited holding it in the Plaza de Colón. The statement says that "the request for a concentration in the Colón Square was communicated to the Government Delegation on 12/9/2022, receiving a negative response for not being there within thirty days prior to the act. It was communicated again at the first moment, thirtieth day prior to the demonstration, (12/22/2022), both by telematic registration, and by email."
The government accepted another 5-hour call on the same site
Given this new communication, the Government Delegation again denied permission to hold the demonstration, alleging that "supposedly, a few minutes before, by email, a concentration in the same place and at the same time as our demonstration is", as reported by the organizers. The communication of the Government Delegation, published by The Objective, the unknown author of that other call, who is "a natural person", has reserved for himself the Plaza de Colón all morning, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., that is, 5 hours of call to prevent any other protest that day and in the same place. The communication of this other call was sent on December 22 at 0:01 hours.
The alternate call is from a fictitious organization
The conveners of the demonstration against the government denounced: "The communication by email does not have telematic guarantees about the identity of the applicant, nor about the exact moment of receipt of the communication, so it can easily be altered to make it appear as received before another". In addition, they add: "The first application received with all the guarantees (that is, to through the telematic application designed for these purposes) has been that of the Foro Libertad y Alternativa (L&A)."
On the other hand, the conveners of the protest against the government add: "According to the information obtained, the "alternative" convener is a natural person, without any representation, from a "fictitious" organization, not registered in no instance. The purpose of said call is evident and supposes a clear abuse of rights and a fraud of law." It so happens that this other call alternative has not been announced anywhere: neither on social networks nor in the media.
The conveners of the protest against the government will do so in the Cibeles Square
Faced with this situation, the groups calling for the demonstration on January 21 have indicated that "we have no intention of wasting energy" in appealing the government's decision, "even though we obviously consider it not in line with Law. For this reason, we have decided to change the place of the rally. These difficulties will not prevent us from exercising our right to demonstrate in defense of Spain, the Constitution and Democracy: we look forward to seeing you on the day January 21, 2023, at 12:00 noon, in the Cibeles Square and surrounding streets."
Rosa Díez described what happened as a "typical filibuster move" by Pedro Sánchez, and added: "They will not be able to silence the voice of the citizens". These government maneuvers to torpedo a demonstration against him are those of an increasingly radicalized and authoritarian left. Now it only remains to be seen what new traps the government will invent to torpedo this mobilization. Of course, Counting Stars adheres to this call.
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Photo: A file image of a Vox protest in Madrid's Plaza de Colón in October 2019.
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