On Thursday, Spain’s Congress overturned an upper house veto with its final approval of a disputed amnesty for Catalan separatists, a move expected to pave the way for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s second term and facilitate the return of an exiled pro-independence leader.
The bill, endorsed by 177-172 votes, will become law once it is published in the official gazette, anticipated as early as Friday.
Subsequently, courts will have up to two months to implement the law, which is expected to nullify the legal records of hundreds of officials and activists involved in Catalonia’s separatist movement since 2011.
The bill has sparked significant protests over recent months, provoking anger among certain judges and the conservative opposition, which intends to contest it in courts.
According to a survey conducted by El Mundo newspaper in March, 62% of respondents nationwide rejected the amnesty.
However, within the Catalonia region, a majority of voters, comprising 48%, expressed support for it.
Sanchez introduced the amnesty proposal last year in exchange for parliamentary support from two Catalan separatist parties, Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, to secure his continuation as premier following an inconclusive election.
He has contended that amnesty will foster reconciliation with the northeastern region, seven years after its illegal referendum and unilateral declaration of independence sparked Spain’s most severe political crisis in over three decades.
“Today marks a historic day. We are not forgiving anything; instead, we are achieving a victory in the centuries-long conflict between the Catalan and Spanish nations,” stated Junts’ lawmaker Miriam Nogueras during a spirited parliamentary debate.
Earlier this month, Sanchez’s approach received significant validation when his Socialist Party emerged victorious in Catalonia’s regional election, resulting in the loss of the separatists’ longstanding parliamentary majority.
The Socialists aspire for the amnesty to solidify their alliance with the small parties on which they depend to advance legislation in the national parliament.
Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Junts who fled to Belgium after leading the unsuccessful independence bid in 2017, is poised to be the most prominent beneficiary of the amnesty.
The Spanish arrest warrant against him related to those events is anticipated to be lifted.
Puigdemont, who ranked as the second most popular candidate in Catalonia’s election, has announced his intention to return to Spain on the day parliament convenes to elect the new Catalan president.
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