Spanish PM speaks on protest against his government

Santander: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday criticised organisers of a right-wing rally in Madrid that attracted thousands of protesters.

The crowd gathered in Madrid's Plaza de Colon called on Sanchez to step down for his handling of the Catalonia region's secession crisis.

The also chanted slogans in support of the nation's security forces.

Speaking at a rally organised by his Socialist Party, Sanchez said he respected the demonstrators' right to protest but accused the the conservative opposition Popular Party and the centre-right Citizens party, which organised the rally, of creating divisions in the country.

The protest took place ahead of a highly sensitive trial at Spain's Supreme Court for 12 Catalan separatists, which gets underway on Tuesday.

The separatists face charges, including rebellion, for their roles in a failed secession attempt in 2017.

Sanchez inherited the Catalan crisis from former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the then-leader of the Popular Party.

Rajoy proved incapable of stopping support for secession from swelling in Catalonia to roughly half of the region's voters.

(With inputs from APTN)