By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Around 4,000 protesters gathered outside Spain’s Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid Thursday night after Pedro Sanchez was re-elected as the prime minister.
The protests, supported by the far-right party Vox, ended up in violent clashes with police, burning garbage cans and seven arrests, according to government officials.
The protesters claim to be trying to protect Spain’s democracy from a “coup de tat” related to granting political amnesty to Catalan separatists. Many of their symbols and slogans, however, suggested otherwise.
One of the protestors at the front of the police line unfurled a large Nazi flag. There were other fascist flags as well.
A large chorus of protesters also sang Cara al Sol, the anthem of Spain’s fascist Falangist party, which became Spain’s national anthem under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
While the protests have been nightly occurrences since earlier this month, the reelection of Sanchez attracted a larger and more violent crowd than in previous days.
Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, known for his far-right positions, had also joined the protests alongside Vox leadership on Monday.
These protests are not backed by Spain’s mainstream conservative Popular Party, which is instead hosting massive weekly protests against amnesty.
Yet by taking to the street and using language like “the beginning of the end of democracy” to describe Spain’s political situation, members of the Socialist Party warn that mainstream conservatives are emboldening extremist elements.
“If you keep feeding the beast, it will end up devouring you … maybe you think they’re attacking the Socialists, but they’re attacking democracy,” Socialist spokesperson Patxi Lopez warned in Spain’s parliament on Thursday.
The violent far-right protests are set to continue each night, as Vox has called for “permanent mobilization” against amnesty. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the Popular Party-backed protests against amnesty on Saturday.