Gran Vía was packed. Spanish flags waved above a crowd shouting for early elections and demanding that Pedro Sánchez face charges of betrayal. The protest was loud and angry, but unity was nowhere in evidence.
Santiago Abascal, Vox’s leader, drew a line before the march even started. He slammed the Partido Popular (PP) for refusing to join his push for a joint government in Ceuta. He also criticized the PP for not backing his demand to bring Sánchez before the Supreme Court. "I sincerely do not understand it," Abascal said. He accused the PP of dodging the toughest fight against the prime minister. Reuters and EFE reported that leaders from both the PP and Vox joined the demonstration, which ran from Plaza de Cibeles to Moncloa. It was meant to show national strength. That unity quickly gave way to division.
Sociedad Civil Española, which brings together more than 150 right-leaning groups, organized the protest. EFE reported that the platform unites more than 150 associations and had held a similar protest in May that drew tens of thousands of participants. Its manifesto called for legal action against Sánchez over betrayal and for putting state security at risk. But the PP kept its distance. Miguel Tellado, the party’s secretary general and top PP official at the protest, made it clear: "The manifesto is their manifesto." He said the PP wants elections and shares concerns about government neglect, but would not echo Vox’s betrayal charges. Tellado pointed to ongoing cases in the Audiencia Nacional, saying the courts, not political stunts, should decide. EFE reported that the PP publicly stepped back from the manifesto’s harshest language. The party backed the call for elections, not the legal accusations against Sánchez. Reuters reported that official statements showed no confirmed judicial process had been initiated against Sánchez for 'betrayal'; the calls remained political demands, while the PP referred to ongoing proceedings but did not support new charges.
The crowd was restless. Chants of "Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta must be defended" and "Pedro Sánchez to prison" rang out. Paco, one protester, held up a poster showing Sánchez behind bars. Others said they feared the government would rig the next election. "Of course he’s capable," said an older man, echoing the crowd’s distrust. Young people wrapped in Spanish flags complained about housing and jobs. Few knew about a separate housing protest taking place that same day in Madrid. The protest came against the backdrop of a recent migrant surge in Ceuta at the end of July. Organizers and right-wing parties cited figures of 70,000 to 80,000 arrivals. That number became a rallying cry.
Despite the anger, the split between Spain’s basic conservative parties was obvious. Vox wants to escalate the fight, demanding criminal charges and directly accusing Sánchez of betrayal. The PP is sticking to the courts and official channels, concerned that harsh words could scare off moderate voters. The division was clear in the street: Abascal marched at the front, surrounded by supporters, while Tellado arrived later and kept away from the loudest slogans.
Spain’s right showed its internal fight in public. The protest laid bare a clash over strategy and ambition. Previous analysis has shown that Sánchez’s leadership divides the opposition, as well as the left and right.
The conservative bloc cannot agree on how far to go. The PP’s careful approach keeps it close to the institutions but risks looking weak to voters who want a fight. Vox is betting everything on hardline attacks, but that could leave it standing alone. The result is a fractured opposition. For Sánchez, that means less pressure from the right than he might have feared.
