MADRID, November 10. /TASS/. A protest rally in the Spanish capital against amnesty for pro-independence supporters of Catalonia ended with clashes between demonstrators and police and 24 detained people, the government's representative office in Madrid told a TASS correspondent.

The protest started late on November 9 at the headquarters of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party led by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. As part of negotiations to form a new government, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party has reached an agreement with Catalan parties to amnesty those linked to separatism in the region since 2012, although it will be left to the courts to decide who will be affected by the measure. Soon after the announcement of the initiative, several thousand people gathered near the Socialist Party's headquarters to protest against it. Seven police officers were injured in the unrest during the rally.

Demonstrations against the separatists' amnesty have become increasingly frequent in Madrid recently. A number of political forces have also criticized the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party for reaching an agreement with the party of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who led the region's government at the time of the illegal independence referendum in 2017. He fled to Belgium soon afterwards.

Parliamentary support from Catalonian parties favoring the independence of the autonomous community is critical if Sanchez wants to lead the Spanish government again. A debate in the Congress of Deputies (lower house of parliament) on the Socialist Party leader's candidacy for Prime Minister is expected to take place next week.

On October 24 an agreement between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the left-wing Sumar alliance was announced, forming a coalition government in the Iberian country. In Spain’s general elections in July, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party won 121 seats in the Parliament while Sumar won 31 seats. As a result, the two allied political forces lacked enough seats to bring Sanchez back as head of the government without bringing in another coalition partner.