After a tortuous passage through parliament, a string of street protests and months of dominating Spain’s national political debate, the Catalan amnesty law is finally being implemented, although its exact scope is still unclear.
On Monday, the state gazette published the law for “the institutional, political and social normalisation of Catalonia”, which seeks to withdraw legal action pending or already taken against nationalists for separatist activity dating back to 2011.
On Tuesday, Catalonia’s higher court of justice, one of several tribunals due to enact the law, had begun the process of doing so with two former regional presidents among those standing to benefit.
One is Artur Mas, who was temporarily barred from public office for organising a non-binding independence referendum in 2014. The other is Quim Torra, who received a similar sanction for disobedience. Both men have already served their bans but the amnesty would clear their criminal records.
[ Former Catalan leader preaches independence from self-exileOpens in new window ]
The Spanish government estimates that about 400 Catalans will benefit from the law, although nationalist parties and organisations have placed the figure at well above 1,000.
The law is a major boon for the independence movement after nationalist parties lost their majority in the Catalan parliament last month and performed poorly in the EU elections. Interim Catalan president Pere Aragonès welcomed its publication, saying it “brings an end to prison, exile and the constant judicial threat”.
However, the amnesty has been fiercely attacked by the right-wing opposition, who claim it is unconstitutional, gives preferential treatment to Catalonia, and was only presented by the government of Socialist Pedro Sánchez to appease Catalan nationalist parties who gave him the parliamentary support he needed to remain in power.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), described its implementation as “the blackest page of our democracy”. In recent months he has led several large demonstrations against the law and his party delayed its passage through the Senate before its final approval in Congress last month.
Yet the law’s introduction, due to be completed within two months, looks unlikely to be quite as smooth as its supporters had hoped.
On Tuesday, supreme court judge Pablo Llarena had kept in place an arrest warrant against several nationalist leaders, including former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who has been living abroad since 2017, pending technical consultations over the coming days.
The bête noire of Spanish unionism, Puigdemont is the most controversial potential beneficiary of the amnesty, having fled the country after leading a failed independence bid. Llarena has expressed doubts as to whether he should be included in the amnesty because of the possibility that he might have committed an alleged financial crime that the legislation does not cover.
If the judiciary, which Catalan nationalists already view with deep distrust, decided that Puigdemont or others did not qualify for amnesty, it could mark a new chapter of antagonism between the northeastern region and Madrid.
Puigdemont has said he plans to return to Spain for the investiture vote of a new Catalan government later this month. He wants to lead the regional administration again, although parliamentary arithmetic suggests he does not have enough support to do so.
While such a dramatic political comeback looks beyond his reach, Spain will hold its breath as the courts decide whether he can return home a free man.
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