Tens of thousands call for end to Sanchez government in Spain

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday in the Spanish capital Madrid against the policies of the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
From the crowd came calls of "Traitor Sanchez," "Government resign," and "Out with the separatists," TV channel RTVE reported.
The government and organizers gave wildly different estimates for the number taking part. The former said 31,000, the latter up to 500,000.
Among the groups on the streets were opposition supporters from the conservative People's Party (PP), the liberal Ciudadanos, and the right-wing populist Vox.
Speakers criticized the recently enacted lighter sentences for Catalan separatists and accused Sánchez's minority government of having made itself dependent on the votes of Catalan separatist forces in parliament.
The recent dispute over the replacement of judges in the Constitutional Court was also denounced as an "undermining" of state institutions.
The same applied to a change in the sexual offences law, which has been applied by courts in such a way that some convicted offenders are released from prisons slightly earlier.
A new parliament will be elected in Spain towards the end of the year.
According to current polls, neither Sánchez's socialist PSOE nor the PP, the largest opposition party, can count on gaining an absolute majority.