Spanish Parliament Approves Controversial Amnesty Law for Catalan Separatists
Spanish MPs have given their final approval to the controversial and deeply divisive amnesty law that the country's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered Catalan separatists in return for helping return him to power after last year's inconclusive general election. The new law, approved by 177 votes to 172 in Spain's 350-seat Congress of Deputies, will apply to about 400 people involved in the symbolic independence referendums of November 2014 and the illegal unilateral poll that followed three years later, triggering Spain's worst political crisis in four decades. The most high-profile beneficiary will be the former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium to avoid arrest over his role in masterminding the illegal push to secede in 2017. Once the law is published in the official state gazette, he will be free to return to Spain after almost seven years of self-imposed exile. Other beneficiaries will include headteachers, civil servants, firefighters, and police officers involved in the events in Catalonia. The amnesty was a concession made by Sánchez to secure the support of the main Catalan pro-independence parties and return to office, a move that has faced strong opposition from critics who accused him of cynicism and hypocrisy. The law's approval has sparked protests and demonstrations across Spain, with concerns about the impact on national unity. Despite the law passing its final legislative hurdle, it may continue to pose challenges as cases are handled by judges on an individual basis and can be appealed in higher courts. Sánchez's political gamble paid off in the recent Catalan election, where the regional branch of the PSOE emerged victorious. However, uncertainty looms as Puigdemont has vowed to return to Spain following the election results.
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