Thousands of opposition protesters demonstrated in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday, accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) of corruption and calling for an early election.

The protest was organized by the country’s main opposition Popular Party (PP), after leaked audio recordings revealed a PSOE campaign to discredit the Central Operative Unit (UCO). The UCO is a division of the Civil Guard of Spain, which is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the most serious forms of crime and organized crime in Spain. Currently, the UCO has ongoing corruption investigations into several individuals in the Prime Minister’s inner circle, including his wife.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition, said during the protest that the people are demonstrating to defend Spain’s democratic dignity and that they will not remain silent against the government’s “mafia practices.”

Spanish Minister of Education Pilar Alegría mocked the protest’s turnout on X, stating that even Estopa, a Spanish rock duo, had more attendance in their recent Madrid concert compared to the opposition protest. According to the protest organizers, the turnout was over 100,000 people.

The PP recently launched a parliamentary hearing in the senate against several ministers, including Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Civil Guard Director Mercedes González. The PP have accused the government of launching a “dirty war” against the UCO unit.

Pedro Sanchez, a former economics professor, came to power in June 2018 after a no-confidence vote that ousted his conservative predecessor, Mariano Rajoy. Rajoy was facing corruption allegations from the then-ruling PP. Since then, Sanchez has governed through a combination of support from minority parties and coalition governments, including from Basque and Catalan nationalist parties.