Thousands march in Madrid demanding government resignation over Ceuta migrant crisis
Demonstrators in Madrid, backed by PP and Vox, demanded early elections by 15 November and attacked the government's handling of Ceuta.
Thousands of people marched through Madrid today in a demonstration called the "March for Dignity", organized by the Spanish Civil Society. Participants demanded early parliamentary elections to be held by 15 November and voiced anger at the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, singling out the handling of the migrant situation in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Opposition parties join the protest
The rally was supported by opposition parties the People's Party (PP) and Vox. Protesters directed chants and insults at both Sánchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, articulating nationalist slogans and calls for change.
Chants included calls aimed at the interior minister — "Marlaska, traitor, defend your nation" — and shouts asserting national identity such as "I am Spanish."
Vox leader Santiago Abascal told the crowd that Ceuta remained under pressure and blamed the prime minister. He said, "Ceuta is still under invasion, because Sánchez is still a servant of Morocco."
Miguel Tellado, secretary-general of the People's Party, demanded that the migrants who entered Ceuta en masse on 30 and 31 July be returned to Morocco. "Those who attacked Ceuta should go back to where they came from," Tellado said.
Organizers and participants insisted the demonstration was meant to force a change of course in Madrid and to press for early elections by 15 November, while critics of the government used the gathering to intensify calls for Sánchez's resignation.
Photo: press material from the event
