Pedro Sánchez took over as Spain’s second-term prime minister, winning a tense vote dominated by his decision to win the support of Catalan separatists by offering a controversial amnesty to those involved in the region’s failed independence attempt six years ago.
Sánchez won an absolute majority in the election with the support of 179 of Spain’s 350 MPs. However, his victory came at a high price and depended on the support of smaller regional parties, including Catalan and Basque nationalists.
The PP has been unable to form a government with the support of the far-right Vox party and other smaller groups, despite winning first place in July’s elections.
However, Sanchez and his partners in the leftist Sumar alliance managed to gather the necessary support for their coalition by agreeing to amnesty demands from the two main pro-independence Catalan parties – the pragmatic Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and the hardline Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia).
Sanchez argues that amnesty will allow the country to take a step forward. He told MPs on Wednesday, as the investiture debate began:
“In the name of Spain and its interests and in the defence of coexistence between Spaniards, we’re going to grant an amnesty to those people who are facing legal action over the [Catalan independence] process.”
The amnesty bill introduced on Monday by the PSOE party covers the period from 1 January 2012 to 13 November 2023, meaning it includes the symbolic, consultative independence referendum in November 2014 and the referendum that took place three years later, followed by the region’s unilateral declaration of independence.
Its beneficiaries are the 309 people prosecuted and 73 police officers prosecuted for their behaviour in the days before and after the second referendum.
