Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday in the Spanish capital of Madrid against the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's left-wing government.

The crowd chanted "Sánchez traitor," "Resign the government," and "Down with the separatists," state broadcaster RTVE reported.

Numerous civil society organizations had called for the rally, which, according to the government, was attended by 31,000 people, but according to the organizers up to 500,000 people.

They were supported by the opposition parties, the conservative People's Party PP, the liberal Ciudadanos and the right-wing populist Vox.

"For Spain, Democracy and the Constitution"

Under the motto "For Spain, Democracy and the Constitution", speakers criticized the recently introduced reduced 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 appointment of new judges in the Constitutional Court was denounced as "eroding" state institutions.

The same was true of a change in the sex crimes law, which is applied by courts in a way that allows some convicted offenders to be released from prison a little earlier.

In Spain, a new parliament will be elected 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 an absolute majority.