MADRID — Thousands of people demonstrated in the capital of Spain on Sunday against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s proposed talks to ease political tensions in Catalonia, in the largest protest Mr. Sanchez has faced as pressure mounted on his minority government. In a protest organized by center-right and far-right opposition parties, demonstrators waved Spanish flags as they filled the Plaza de Colon in the city center of Madrid. Their slogan: “For a united Spain, elections now!”“The time of Sanchez’s government has ended,” Pablo Casado, leader of the Popular Party, said at the protest. The protest took place two days before the start of the trial of 12 Catalan independence leaders, who face up to 25 years in prison on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds for their role in a failed secession bid from Spain that they are accused of spearheading in 2017.

Source: New York Times February 10, 2019 16:07 UTC