By Anders Hagstrom
Gunshots and explosions were heard overnight in Madrid after 50,000 demonstrators took to the streets Wednesday
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Spain to protest the government’s handling of a mass crossing of migrants into Spain in July.
Authorities say 50,000 protesters were on the streets in Madrid alone, furious at Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as the migrant crisis in Spain’s North African city of Ceuta continues.
Violence continued for hours after the major protests ended, with gunshots and explosions audible throughout the night on Wednesday.
The protesters bore signs reading, “A united Ceuta will never be defeated,” “Sánchez to prison,” and “Invaders — go home!”
Spain is still dealing with the fallout after over 70,000 foreign migrants surged across its border from neighboring Morocco in late July.
Thousands of those migrants remain in Spanish territory even now.
“What happened to us was not a migratory crisis,” Ceuta’s regional leader, Juan Jesús Vivas, said Wednesday. “What happened was the violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”