THE PRESIDENT IN EUROPE : Thousands in Spain Protest Visit Today : Leftists and Pacifist Marchers Denounce Reagan as ‘Gunslinger,’ Say ‘No to NATO’

Thousands of Spaniards, led by leftists and pacifists, marched through the streets of Madrid on Sunday in a high-spirited protest against President Reagan’s visit starting here today.

Alternately chanting, “No to NATO, bases out!” and “Cowboy Reagan, fascist gunslinger!” most of the marchers here in the capital seemed in a Sunday picnic mood on a clear, cool sunlit morning only a day before the President’s arrival.

There were exceptions. When the march came to an end, some demonstrators burned two American flags and hoisted a flag of Nicaragua’s Sandinista regime to the top of a monument to Christopher Columbus.

Demonstrations were held throughout the country. Reuters news agency reported that police and protesters clashed in the northern Basque city of San Sebastian, while in Barcelona, protesters broke down the door of the U.S. Consulate and sprayed the building with slogans.

Police reported a few destructive incidents here in Madrid.

Windows Broken

Some marchers threw objects that broke the windows of an apartment that displayed posters of the old fascist Falange Party of the late dictator Francisco Franco. Others, according to the police, smashed down the door of the headquarters of the right-wing Popular Alliance Party and threw Molotov cocktails inside.

In spite of these episodes, the mood in Madrid was generally festive, an atmosphere best reflected by two protesters who walked on stilts and some youngsters who shot off fireworks. A few marchers carried Spain’s traditional, kidney-shaped, leather botas filled with wine.

One police estimate put the Madrid crowd at 75,000, but that seemed high to some foreign journalists.

In any case, it was a remarkable turnout, for the protest was handicapped by the weakness of its leaders. A badly divided Communist Party, other more radical leftist parties with scant electoral support and little-known pacifist groups had organized the march.

The protest came at a time of growing anti-American and anti-Reagan feelings in Spain, a mood aggravated by the recent U.S. decision to impose a trade embargo on Nicaragua.

Many marchers carried copies of El Pais, Spain’s largest and most influential newspaper, under their arms. In a poll published in the current edition, El Pais reported that 64% of the Spaniards surveyed do not believe that President Reagan and the United States are loyal and sincere friends of Spain, that 74% do not believe that the President’s defense policies help peace and that 66% want the United States to reduce its military presence in Spain.

Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, however, is determined to play down the anti-American mood during the visit and make sure that no protest mars the ceremonies. Although there is a good deal of anger in Socialist ranks over the Nicaraguan trade embargo, no prominent member of the Socialist Party or the Socialist-allied trade union took part in the march.

Anti-American Themes

The protesters touched the main themes of anti-Americanism in Spain by calling for Spaniards to vote in a referendum for withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, by demanding the removal of American military bases from Spanish soil and by condemning the United States for its trade embargo of Nicaragua. Onlookers, in fact, threw coins onto a black and red Sandinista flag that marchers carried in a plea for funds for the Nicaraguan government.

A few protests were grotesque: Some marchers wore T-shirts that said “welcome” over a portrait of Reagan with a bullet hole in his forehead. Others were more polite: One distinguished, gray-haired man in a suit, marching with the Communist Party, carried a hand-lettered sign: “Mister Reagan, Your Presence Does Not Please Me. (signed) A Spaniard.”

Protesters called on citizens to switch off their lights and bang saucepans at the time of Reagan’s scheduled arrival tonight and announced a champagne rock concert to celebrate his departure.