Madrid, Mar 14 (EFE).- The Spanish parliament Thursday approved a controversial amnesty bill for Catalan separatists.
The bill, which now heads to the Senate, passed with a vote of 178-172 in favor in the 350-seat lower house of parliament in Madrid.
It aims to pardon Catalan leaders who faced charges of sedition and terrorism for their involvement in an unauthorized independence referendum in 2017 and subsequent protests.
The parliamentary vote on Thursday yielded few surprises, with only the PP, Vox, UPN, and Coalición Canaria voting against the bill.
The amnesty had been promised by the Socialists to their Catalan allies in exchange for their support for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government after the national election in July last year resulted in a hung parliament.
Former Catalonia president and leader of the hardline Junts per Catalunya (‘Together for Catalonia’) party, Carles Puigdemont, who has been living in self-imposed exile since facing charges for leading the independence movement, had refused to support Sanchez without the amnesty.
Junts had also rejected a proposal in January that they felt did not provide sufficient guarantees that the separatists would not face prosecution.
The approved draft absolves all criminal, administrative, and financial responsibilities of persons connected to the secessionist movement, potentially paving the way for Puigdemont’s return to Spain.
In a debate marked by references to the upcoming elections in Catalonia, Patxi López, the parliamentary spokesperson for the ruling PSOE, strongly defended the law.
He said it marked the conclusion of a “cycle of political decisions” through which the government aimed to achieve “reconciliation” in Catalonia.
In a fiercely combative speech targeting the Popular Party, whom he accused of seeking confrontation, López suggested that the government’s measures, although currently opposed by some, will be appreciated in the future, even by those who opposed them.
Sanchez had long argued that granting pardons to the separatists was necessary to move the country forward.
The agreement between the PSOE and Junts and the left-wing ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) has sparked outrage among many right-wing and conservative groups in Spain, who accuse Sanchez of cynically clinging to power. EFE
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