The Spanish parliament has greenlit a contentious amnesty law that sets the stage for potential pardons for hundreds of individuals facing legal action for their involvement in Catalonia’s failed bid for independence.
Proposed by the Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the amnesty was tabled last year as a means of garnering support from Catalan separatist factions following inconclusive elections.
The bill has been positioned by the government as a means of turning the page on the 2017 crisis, when separatist leaders sought to advance Catalan secession through a referendum deemed illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court, culminating in a unilateral declaration of independence.
This move has incited anger among Spain’s right-wing factions, leading to significant protests. However, with crucial backing from two Catalan separatist parties, Junts (Together) and Esquerra Republicana (Republican Left), the bill secured passage with 177 votes in favor and 172 against.
Following the vote, Sánchez took to social media to assert that “in politics, as in life, forgiveness is more powerful than resentment.”
Opposition to the measure came from Spain’s main conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party, both of which voted against the legislation. Just prior to the vote, Madrid’s regional government president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, representing the Popular Party, pledged to challenge the new law before Spain’s Constitutional Court.
The amnesty law extends to 309 individuals facing legal proceedings related to the failed Catalan independence attempt, including political figures. Additionally, 73 police officers involved in enforcing the law and the Constitution during that period would be covered by the amnesty.
Moreover, the legislation would enable the return of exiled independence leader Carles Puigdemont and lift judicial charges against him. Similarly, Oriol Junqueras, a prominent figure in the Catalan separatist movement, would no longer be disqualified from holding public office.
Puigdemont, the former president of the Catalan regional government, fled to Belgium following the failed independence bid, while Junqueras, the former vice president, was arrested and later sentenced to prison.
The amnesty law, championed by Sánchez and Socialist leaders, is framed as a means of reconciliation in Catalonia’s deeply divided society and a step toward a constructive future for the region.
However, critics from the conservative Popular Party and Vox have labeled the government’s action as “political corruption,” alleging that it represents a quid pro quo for Sánchez to maintain power in exchange for concessions to Catalan separatists.
The legislation is set to take effect upon its publication in the Official State Bulletin in the coming days, according to Minister of Justice Felix Bolaños, a close aide to Sánchez. Despite the planned appeal by the conservative Madrid regional government, Bolaños emphasized Spain’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and the right to appeal.