Divisive Catalan amnesty bill clears parliamentary hurdle in Spain
Al Jazeera
The bill seeks to draw a line under years of efforts to prosecute those involved in the 2017 botched secession bid.
Spain’s lower house of parliament has approved an amnesty bill aimed at forgiving crimes – proven and alleged – by Catalan separatists during a chaotic attempt to hold an independence referendum in the region six years ago.
The MPs on Thursday voted 178 in favour to 172 against in the 350-seat house.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promoted the amnesty as a way to move past the 2017 secession attempt.
However, the bill has also met opposition from millions of Spaniards who believe that the people who provoked one of Spain’s biggest political crises should face charges, including embezzlement and promoting public disorder.
Sanchez has already pardoned nine jailed Catalan independence leaders, a move that helped heal wounds at little political cost. But the amnesty is proving to be much more divisive.
