It was not yet 9:00 in the morning and the Paseo de la Castellana was already full of Spanish flags, full of people rushing to get a good place from which to watch the military parade on National Day. Mixed among the public were some members of the Army and the Civil Guard, who were going to parade later, taking advantage of the previous moments to be with their family and friends and calmly comment on some details of the ceremony. There were also families who came from outside Madrid to see it, and who had gotten up early to be in the front row. “It is a pride to be here to see our Armed Forces,” some of them expressed. The calm, however, soon ended.
The political climate, with the amnesty and the negotiation for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez with Carles Puigdemont in the background, has marked the development of the parade. «Can’t we go any further?» It was the most repeated phrase among many of the resigned people who went up from Atocha to the Plaza de Neptuno, where this year the authorities’ tribune was located, eager to get as close as possible to it to reprimand Sánchez. “He doesn’t want to listen to what we have to tell him,” said a woman, decked out from head to toe with the Spanish flag. “He is selling us for a handful of votes and he doesn’t want to listen to us,” she added. It was impossible to get closer than 200 meters from any point on Castellana or its surrounding streets.
Around 10:30 in the morning, there was a first whistle directed at the acting President of the Government, even though he had not yet arrived. “Let Txapote vote for you!”, “Puigdemont to prison!” and “traitor!” were the most heard shouts towards Sánchez, who was finally received at 11:00 under a very loud whistle that, despite the Government’s efforts to avoid it, could be heard on television, which many citizens present in the parade were paying attention to. through their cell phones.
Sánchez’s reception contrasted with that received by King Felipe VI, who arrived accompanied by Queen Letizia and Princess Leonor, who attended the parade for the first time dressed in a military uniform, once she began her military training last month. August at the Military Academy of Zaragoza. In an instant, the shouts and boos at Sánchez transformed into cheers and applause. “It is not true that Pedro Sánchez has always been whistled,” commented a citizen who always attends the celebration of the national holiday. “I only missed the year of Covid, and I had never seen this before,” he explained angrily. Since he became president in 2018, October 12 has been a complex day for Sánchez, who has always been received with shouts and boos from most of the people who come to see the parade year after year. 2023 has not been different.
