Madrid, Nov 16 (IANS) Spain's Congress of Deputies, or Parliament, has started the second debate on the investiture of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez as the country's next Prime Minister following the July 23 general election.

The agreements signed by the PSOE with other parties in recent days are expected to guarantee him 179 supporting votes in the 350-seat Congress, three more than the 176 needed for an overall majority, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, an amnesty for people involved in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which was ruled illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court, is one of the conditions spelled out in the agreements signed with the Catalan nationalist parties Ezquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya.

The amnesty has proved to be hugely divisive.

The right-wing People's Party (PP) and the far-right Vox have both voiced their opposition to the amnesty, with hundreds of thousands across Spain taking part in demonstrations called by the PP on Sunday.

Meanwhile, protests outside the PSOE headquarters in Madrid, attended by members of Vox and neo-Nazi organisations, have seen sporadic outbreaks of violence with dozens of arrests.

Vox had tried to get a court order to stop the investiture debate from taking place, but their attempt was rejected by the Spanish High Court on Wednesday morning.

The Congress building was guarded by 1,600 members of the police and security forces to prevent further trouble.

Sanchez opened the debate with a call for peace in the Middle East.

"We demand an immediate ceasefire from Israel in Gaza and the respect for international human rights," he said, asking for the return of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas but also "rejecting the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank."

He then turned his attention to domestic affairs, saying he respected the protests against his investiture.

"We have heard thousands of citizens in the protests from the PP and Vox and those who have carried out this right peacefully. I respect and recognise that."

However, he added that Spain's "Constitution signals a higher way of expressing oneself, and that is the elections".

"Today we are going to listen to the 25 million citizens who voted in the elections."

The first investiture debate was held in September and saw PP leader Albert Nunez Feijoo fail to reach the necessary 176 votes as he only counted on the support of his party, Vox, and two regional formations.