Puigdemont’s return unclear as Spain’s controversial amnesty law comes into force

Spain’s controversial amnesty law, pardoning Catalan separatists responsible for illegal actions between 2011 and 2023, officially came into force on Tuesday, but the expected return of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to Spain remains uncertain, as on the same day a Spanish judge announced that an arrest warrant for the separatist leader remains in force.

According to sources in the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE/S&D), the law in question is “a fundamental piece to put an end to a period of confrontation and division in Catalan society”, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported on Tuesday.

The law, whose implementation will now depend on Spanish judges’ interpretations, could benefit around 300 politicians and supporters of the two main Catalan separatist parties, which share a pro-independence ideology but are rivals in the Catalan political arena.

The two forces are the right-wing Together for Catalonia (JxCat), led by Puigdemont, and its left-wing rival, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), which was in power in Catalonia until last May when the regional government called early elections after failing to approve a budget.

Both JxCat and ERC, as well as the radical left Basque party EH Bildu and the moderate nationalist PNV, provide crucial support for the stability of Sánchez’s coalition government with the left-wing Sumar platform.

Sumar was led by Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who stepped down as party leader on Monday, triggering a serious crisis in Spain’s radical left camp.

The extraordinary law, which officially came into force on Tuesday after being published in the Official State Gazette, pardons hundreds of separatist activists for illegal acts committed between 2011 and 2023, including Catalonia’s attempt to secede from the rest of Spain in October 2017, which drew worldwide media attention.

Puigdemont, who lived in self-exile in Waterloo, near Brussels, from 2017 until April this year, is currently living in the south of France. He intends to cross the border and enter Spain as a ‘free man’.

Things get very complicated for Puigdemont

While some ultra-conservative associations of judges close to right-wing parties have – in a rare show of partisanship – spoken out against the new law, questioning its constitutionality, other sectors may also doubt how the controversial rule will be applied.

Experts point out that Puigdemont could now theoretically be arrested in Spain, which has issued a national arrest warrant against him for crimes of disobedience, embezzlement and terrorism linked to the years covered by the new law.

Spain’s government and PSOE sources claim that the law fully respects the 1978 Spanish Constitution.

However, the Partido Popular (PP/EPP), the main opposition force, has already announced that it will try to stop the norm before the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. It has even taken the controversial law to Brussels, where it has won the backing of the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber.

To dispel any doubts, Spanish judges could, for example, submit a preliminary question to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) to determine whether the controversial law violates EU law.

If so, the case in question would be halted for several months and the amnesty law would theoretically not be implemented in that specific case until the EU court has ruled, experts explained.

The Spanish Court of Auditors took a first step in this direction on Tuesday by asking the Public Prosecutor’s Office to report, whether it is appropriate to ask the EU court for a preliminary ruling in a case concerning the misappropriation of public funds during the years covered by the amnesty law, El País reported.

But this is not the only legal hurdle Puigdemont faces.

On Tuesday, a few hours after the law came into force, the Supreme Court judge investigating the case asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to inform him of how the amnesty law affects Puigdemont while confirming that the national arrest warrant issued against the former Catalan president remains in force, EFE reported.

The controversial law has become one of the main political weapons of the PP and the far-right VOX party, the third largest force in parliament, against Pedro Sánchez. Both parties are using it as an argument to try to force the prime minister to resign, as he relies heavily on Catalan separatists in parliament to stay in office.

A few days ago, the PP speculated on the possibility of tabling a censure motion against the Spanish prime minister, although it eventually abandoned the idea after realising that it was doomed to failure due to a lack of parliamentary support.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)

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