Catalan separatists reject amnesty bill, highlighting the fragility of Spain's minority government
Catalan separatist lawmakers have dealt Spainโs government a blow by voting against a hugely divisive amnesty law that was aimed at helping hundreds of their supporters involved in Cataloniaโs unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.
Why Spain's acting leader is offering a politically explosive amnesty for Catalan separatists
Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sรกnchezโs chances of forming a new coalition minority government following an inconclusive election in July have been greatly boosted by a deal with a tiny party he surely hoped he would never have to rely on.
Spain's Socialists will grant amnesty to Catalan separatists in return for support of new government
Spainโs Socialist Party has struck a deal with a fringe Catalan separatist party to grant an amnesty for potentially thousands of people involved in the regionโs failed secession bid in exchange for its key backing of acting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sรกnchez to form a new government.
Socialist wins key Spanish parliament vote that could pave way for new center-left government
Spainโs newly elected Parliament has voted by a majority to elect a Socialist candidate as chamber speaker, breathing some life into acting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sรกnchezยดs aspirations to form another leftist government.
Dialogue with Spain deepens division between Catalan parties
The leader of Catalonia in northeastern Spain has announced that itโs excluding a separatist party in his ruling regional coalition from talks with the central government aimed at solving the tensions over the growing pro-independence sentiment.
Catalan separatist returns from Belgium to face Spanish law
Former Catalan government member Meritxell Serret handed herself into Spain's Supreme Court on Thursday March 11, 2021, three years after she fled to Belgium. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)BARCELONA โ Former Catalan government member Meritxell Serret handed herself into Spainโs Supreme Court on Thursday, three years after she fled to Belgium along with other associates who led Cataloniaโs failed secession attempt. When Puigdemont fled Spain in October 2017 he was accompanied by Serret and six other members of the Catalan regional government, which was disbanded by Spainโs central authorities when their independence bid collapsed. She said that she intended to take the seat in the Catalan regional legislature she won in an election earlier this year. Puigdemont refused to return to Spain on claims that he could not get a fair trial.
EU lawmakers lift the immunity of 3 Catalan separatists
Member of European Parliament Carles Puigdemont prepares for an interview at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. In the decision on Puigdemont, 400 legislators voted for the waiver of immunity, 248 were against and 45 abstained. The measures to lift the immunity of his associates โ former Catalan Health Minister Toni Comรญn and former regional Education Minister Clara Ponsatรญ โ were by largely similar margins. AdโWe have lost our immunity, but the European Parliament has lost more than that. In 2019, Puigdemont and his two associates won seats in the European Parliament and were afforded protection as members of the EU assembly.
EU lawmakers to vote on fate of former Catalan president
FILE - In this Monday Jan. 13, 2020 file photo, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont reacts during a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. On Monday March 8, 2021, Puigdemont, along with cohorts Toni Comn and Clara Ponsat, face a vote by the European Parliament to lift their immunity as lawmakers as has been recommended by the parliaments Legal Affairs Committee. In 2019, he, former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati won seats in the European Parliament and were afforded protection in their positions as members of the EU assembly. The process is common โ around 60 such demands to lift the immunity of various lawmakers were made during the 2014-2019 parliamentary term. AdThe independence vote in favor of Catalonia breaking away won by a landslide in 2017.
Ex-Catalan leader vows to keep fighting extradition to Spain
FILE - In this Monday Jan. 13, 2020 file photo, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont reacts during a press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)BARCELONA โ Cataloniaโs former regional President Carles Puigdemont has vowed to keep fighting extradition back to Spain if the European Unionโs parliament strips him of his immunity as a lawmaker this week. Puigdemont and two fellow Catalan separatists won seats in the European Parliament in 2019, two years after fleeing Spain because they had led a failed secession attempt for Catalonia, which Spain considered illegal. After issuing a declaration of independence that did not have any practical effect, Puigdemont fled Spain for Brussels before prosecutors could issue an arrest warrant. AdโIn Spain, the courts are not free of political interests,โ he said.
AP Interview: Salvador Illa, Catalonia's quiet gamechanger
Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) candidate in the upcoming Catalan elections Salvador Illa, reads notes ahead of an interview at his party headquarter in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. A former health minister of Spain hopes to become a quiet political disruptor in the country's Catalonia region when voters go to the polls next weekend. โThe solution of Illa is amnesia,โ said Pere Aragonรจs, the acting regional president of Catalonia and the leading candidate from the pro-secession Republican Left of Catalonia party. โThat is not true, because we have seen how different countries have had to work together during the pandemic,โ Illa said. In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn has fared well thanks to the countryโs comparatively successful initial effort to curb infections.
Spain: judge probes Catalan separatism links with Russia
A man holding an "estelada" or independence flag waits for a protest to condemn a police raid on Catalan separatists in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Spanish officials say that police have arrested 21 individuals with links to the Catalan separatist movement on suspicion of corruption and promoting public disorder. The Catalan separatist movement has always proclaimed non-violent beliefs, even though last year there were violent clashes with police after several top leaders were sentenced to prison for their roles in the 2017 breakaway bid. The Spanish government had accused Russia in 2017 of meddling in the Catalan conflict, a charge that Russian officials denied then. Another detainee, Oriol Soler, is a publisher who is considered one of the top strategists of the separatist movement.
Facing terror charges, ETA's last boss apologizes for deaths
Josu Urrutikoetxea, a former leader of Basque separatist militant group ETA, speaks in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. Just because he oversaw ETAโs end in 2018, they stress, that doesnโt erase his past. Survivors of violent attacks and relatives of ETAโs victims say the campaign humiliates them. ETAโs cause was politically and socially divisive inside Spainโs Basque society and widely rejected across the rest of Spain. What I do want is to see him taking the stand in court,โ she said, standing at the site of ETA's attack on the Civil Guard.
Catalan independence leaders get long prison terms from Spanish court
Nine Catalan independence leaders have received lengthy prison sentences of between nine and 13 years for their part in a failed 2017 attempt to split from Spain, but were acquitted of the most serious charge against them. Three other defendants were found guilty of disobedience, fined and banned from public office for 20 months. He was handed 13 years in prison and banned from holding public office for 13 years after being found guilty of sedition and misuse of public funds. Prime Minister Sanchez told reporters that the Spanish government had "absolute respect for and adherence to" the Supreme Court's ruling. Three others -- Santiago Vila, Meritxell Borras and Carles Mundo -- were found guilty of disobedience, fined and banned from public office for 20 months.