Spanish PM backs amnesty for Catalan independence leaders

The acting Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, backed an amnesty for Catalan pro-independence figures on Saturday in front of the Socialist Party's federal committee.

According to him, 80% of Catalans and 56 deputies in the Spanish Congress, apart from those of the Socialists, support this measure to "heal wounds" in Catalonia.

Assuring that "necessity is a virtue," Sánchez formally asked for the party's support for his proposal: "In the interest of Spain and coexistence, today I defend amnesty in Catalonia."

In a speech lasting almost an hour, Sánchez went over several of his reasons for asking for support for the agreement with Sumar. He said that a possible repeat of an election could give the right-wing bloc of PP and Vox a "second chance" to "roll back decades in a few years."

The acting PM said that pardons for the jailed independence leaders was "the first step" to normalizing the political atmosphere in Catalonia, but he said he knew this alone would not be "definitive," even though they were "effective" in calming things.

According to him, Catalonia is now ready for "total reunion" with the rest of Spain, evident in the latest election results in which the Socialist party were the most-voted in Catalonia.

In any case, he said that any proposal will be "fully constitutional" and argued that countries such as Germany, Portugal, or the United Kingdom have used it.

Catalan president wants referendum

Catalan president Pere Aragonès insisted that it is time to address an independence referendum in Catalonia following Sánchez's support of an amnesty.

In addition, Aragonès added that a full transfer over control of the Rodalies commuter rail service to Catalonia and the end of the fiscal deficit are also necessary after the amnesty is approved.

The leader of the Catalan government called Sánchez's words "a step forward," but nuanced that it is still necessary to "work for a solution to the political conflict," which, for Aragonès, is only possible with a referendum and to deal with over the Rodalies network and addressing the fiscal deficit.

Catalonia's department of economy and finance calculated in September that the deficit between what it contributes to the Spanish purse and the quantity invested back in Catalonia stood at €21.982 billion in 2021, equivalent to 9.6% of the GDP.

Catalonia contributed 19.2% of the income taken in by Spain, while it only received 13.6% of the investment expenditure. 

Sumar expects Sánchez investiture soon

The leader of Sumar and second vice-president of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, took for granted that "in a few days" there will be an investiture of Pedro Sánchez and a new progressive coalition government.

Díaz said this in a meeting with party volunteers in which he defended the coalition agreement with the Socialist party.

Meanwhile, leader of the conservative People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, asked Pedro Sánchez to let all Spaniards have their say on the amnesty proposal.

In a tweet, the PP leader called a potential amnesty "convenience" as opposed to "coexistance."