Tens of thousands of people marched through Barcelona on Sunday to protest against a potential amnesty deal that Spain’s Socialists must negotiate for Catalonia’s 2017 separatist bid in order to form a government. The protest, organized by the anti-separatist organization Societat Civil Catalana, occurred five days after Spain’s acting Socialist prime minister was nominated to seek support from other political parties for a new mandate. Pedro Sanchez needs the backing of the Catalan separatist parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, who want the amnesty in exchange for votes in parliament.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the leader of the opposition conservative People’s Party, and Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, participated in the march, which police estimated attracted 50,000 protesters. Javier Tapia, a 55-year-old chemicals worker, expressed his opposition to the amnesty, stating that it would undermine the judiciary and place the government above democracy and the rule of law. Isabel Martinez, holding a sign that read “Spain for Sale,” argued against the amnesty, claiming that not all Catalans believe that the separatists should be pardoned and that they want to live in peace.
Sanchez has defended his conciliatory policy with Catalonia, including a 2021 pardon for nine jailed leaders, and stated that the 2017 crisis “brought nothing good.” However, Feijoo criticized Sanchez’s approach and claimed that the amnesty was solely an attempt to secure the presidency of the government. The amnesty could potentially encompass over 1,400 people involved in the independence bid, according to the pro-separatist Catalan group Omnium. This would be the largest amnesty in Spain since the 1977 blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the Francisco Franco dictatorship and the first amnesty law approved in the European Union since 1991, as stated by Spain’s CSIC research council.
In a mid-September poll, around 70% of respondents, including 59% of Socialist supporters, expressed opposition to the idea of an amnesty. If no candidate for prime minister achieves a majority by November 27, a repeat election must be held.
Reporting by Graham Keeley, Joan Faus, Horaci Garcia, Guillermo Martinez; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
Credit: The Star : News Feed
