Madrid: Spain’s parliament on Thursday gave the final green light to a controversial amnesty law for Catalan separatists, allowing the return of self-styled leader Carles Puigdemont after years in self-imposed exile.
The legislation seeks to draw a line in a decades-long effort to prosecute those involved in the 2017 Catalan independence bid that sparked Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
The text, strongly opposed by Spain’s far-right opposition, was adopted by 177 votes to 172 in the 350-seat parliament. No one participated in the vote.
Accepting the pardon is a major milestone for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, as he seeks to allow the separatist party to run for a new term in exchange for parliamentary support.
After two-and-a-half hours of debate, the Speaker was forced to call to order several times because of insults sold on the floor, the bill was approved.
A separate judge will now determine whether amnesty applies to them. There is a period of two months where the constitutional court or the European justice system can temporarily delay the implementation of the law.
