Spain's parliament approved a landmark law Thursday to pardon Catalan separatists took part in the illegal independence referendum in October 2017the suspended sentence could apply to hundreds of people, including Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont He has been in self-imposed exile for seven years.
The measure has been resisted by opposition parties and sparked widespread anger and mass demonstrations in cities across Spain in recent months, with opponents denouncing it as a ruse for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to stay in power. Sanchez struck the amnesty deal with Catalan separatist party United Catalonia after failing to win a majority in last July's election.
As Sanchez voted Thursday, shouts of “traitor” were heard from several lawmakers in parliament.
Spanish judges now have two months to enforce the new law, although opponents have vowed to continue to block it. Some argue that the measure violates the constitutional principle of equality because it is unfair to others facing legal action.
Madrid regional president Isabel Ayuso said in a radio interview on Thursday that her government would take steps to hinder the implementation of the new law and appeal on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.
Judges may also bring legal challenges if they deem the universal legal pardon discriminatory, said Pablo Simon, a political scientist at Carlos III University in Madrid.
“Each judge has different criteria,” Simon said. He also said they could ask the European Court of Justice to intervene “if they believe that granting a general legal amnesty is discriminatory,” in which case “the law could be paralyzed.”
The amnesty law applies to people involved in Catalonia's independence movement, which reached its peak in October 2017 when the region's separatist government led by Puigdemont ignored a Spanish court order and went ahead with a referendum.
Many voters were injured by violent police intervention, and after the vote the Spanish government declared independence and launched a crackdown. Disband the Catalan government and exercise direct control. Nine political leaders Sentenced to prison The charges included sedition, and Puigdemont fled across the border to France and then to Belgium, narrowly escaping arrest.
While the Sanchez government has pardoned jailed political leaders and activists, the amnesty goes a step further. It will dismiss prosecutions against people facing charges ranging from misusing public funds to finance the 2017 referendum; to civil disobedience — for example, teachers using schools as polling stations; and to resisting authorities by participating in riots that prevented Spanish law enforcement from gathering evidence.
The only exceptions to the new amnesty law are in terrorism-related cases.
The bill was finally approved by the ruling Socialist Party and its coalition after months of parliamentary deliberations, after being rejected by Spain's upper house, which has limited powers and is controlled by the opposition Popular Party.
Sánchez and his allies defended the amnesty as the best way to peaceful coexistence in Catalonia. Félix Bolaños, a minister in the presidency, called the law “a decisive step to end a difficult period and start a period of prosperity.”
Míriam Nogueras, a spokeswoman for Puigdemont’s party, said during a morning parliamentary debate that the bill’s passage was “not an amnesty or clemency” but a “victory” for democracy.
But Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Popular Party, dismissed the bill as a “power swap” for “privileges and impunity.” “Don’t dare call it coexistence,” he said during the debate. Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, said the law “legalizes political violence in Spain.”
Despite strong political and social opposition, Sánchez’s gamble appears to have succeeded. In regional elections on May 12, his Catalan Socialist Party branch made history by winning enough votes to form the region’s first government in more than a decade led by a party opposed to Catalan independence.
That did not appear to deter Gabriel Rufían, a leftist lawmaker from the Catalan Republican Party, who told parliament on Wednesday that separatists in the region would use the momentum to push for another independence push. “The next step, a referendum,” he said.
Nograles, a spokesman for Puigdemont's party, called the bill's passage a “historic day.” But for Puigdemont, who has been an MEP since 2019, the legal path remains uncertain.
Political analyst Simon speculated that if the judges compare Puigdemont to the 2019 Democratic Tsunamia Catalan protest group, at Barcelona airport, where he and others could be charged with terrorism offences and therefore not subject to the amnesty law.
“Let’s see what happens,” Mr. Simon said.
