Madrid, Catalan parties reach amnesty bill agreement
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The bill would see the exoneration of figures who played a role in Barcelona's independence attempt in 2017.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is pictured here giving an address in Madrid, Spain in 2023. (AFP)
Madrid and Catalan independence parties reached an amnesty bill to resolve a national dispute that polarized Spain for the past 7 years.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged to pass legislation exonerating individuals sentenced or prosecuted for their role in the failed 2017 independence referundum in Barcelona in 2017.
Sanchez's party failed to secure a parliamentary majority in last year's elections, forcing him to seek nontraditional relations with Catalonia's separatist party JxCat to keep his government afloat.
In January, legislators shot down a first amnesty bill as JxCat MPs stated it needs to be more inclusive of all people related to the case, mainly exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
"After days of joint work, and taking into account the directives of European and international constitutional law," the parties "have reached an agreement... to strengthen the amnesty law", they announced in a joint statement.
The legislation will concern "all people linked to the independence process" and will be "fully compliant with the constitution, the law and European jurisprudence", the statement said.
During a trip to Brazil, Sanchez said the amnesty bill was "constitutional and compliant with European law."
The amnesty proposal has faced strong criticism from the right-wing opposition, with the main conservative Popular Party calling it a "humiliation", leading to massive protests. Puigdemont is viewed as a major adversary by many on the Spanish right.
A parliamentary commission was scheduled to review the bill before a later vote. Last week, Spain's Supreme Court announced an investigation into Puigdemont for suspected "terrorism" charges.
