Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders responsible for the 2017 bid for Catalonia’s independence.
The prisoners have to wait a few days for King Felipe VI to sign the pardons, as well as for the pardons to be published in the gazette. The pardons commute sentences of 9 to 13 years for sedition and public misuse of funds, but they retain the barring of the officials from public office. The move is a bid by Sanchez’s government to calm tensions in the volatile region where a drive for independence four years ago resulted in the greatest political crisis the country had faced in 40 years, according to the BBC.
“I do understand that there will be people who have objections to the decision the government might make — especially after the events of 2017,” Sanchez said earlier this month. “But I ask them to put their trust in us because we need to work on coexistence. … Spanish society needs to move from a bad past to a better future — and that will require magnanimity.”
IF SPAIN OVERPLAYS ITS HAND IN CATALONIA, TERRORISM MAY FOLLOW
The move was immediately met by mass protests from both pro-secessionist and anti-secessionist groups. Pro-Catalonian independence factions claim that the pardons are not enough and demand another independence referendum. One of the nine released prisoners, Raul Romeva, Catalonia’s former foreign minister, tweeted, “By pardoning nine people, they will not hide the repression they continue exercising against hundreds of separatists. We won’t give up the fight: amnesty and self-determination!”
Raül: “Indultant a 9 persones no amagaran la repressió que continuen aplicant contra centenars d’independentistes. No cedirem: amnistia i autodeterminació!”
— Raül Romeva i Rueda (@raulromeva) June 22, 2021
The Spanish public outside of Catalonia was largely opposed to the decision, as evidenced by one newspaper poll that found that 60% of Spaniards opposed the pardons, according to the BBC. A group of 25,000 protesters held a demonstration in Madrid earlier this month when Sanchez began floating around the idea of a pardon, demanding his resignation. Critics claim that the move will destabilize the country, setting a dangerous precedent for other independent-minded regions, such as the Basque Country.
Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish Vox Party, denounced the pardons as “an act of treason against all Spaniards, who have to watch as the politicians who staged a coup against the Constitution are freed by an illegitimate and illegal government order.”
Sanchez and his socialist minority government defended the move as essential to de-escalate the situation and encourage coexistence. Speaking to Euronews, the new Catalan independence leader Pere Aragones said the pardons are “only a first step” regarding a deal with Madrid. He maintains that the pardons must be followed by a new independence referendum and mass amnesty.
Some analysts believe the prime minister’s true reasoning is political expediency, according to Al Jazeera. The minority Socialist government is facing a growing challenge from right-wing parties, such as Vox, which is resulting in an increasing reliance on Basque and Catalan nationalists.
Catalonia made world headlines in 2017 when an independence referendum was met with a crackdown from the Spanish government, which imposed harsh penalties on the perpetrators. Though boycotted by pro-Madrid Catalans, 90% of Catalans who participated voted to secede from Spain. Pro-independence activists have been advocating for another referendum, although the Spanish Constitution forbids any of the disparate Spanish provinces from seceding. According to polls, a slight majority of Catalans support staying with Spain.
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Catalonia has long had a strained relationship with the rest of Spain, possessing its own unique language and culture. The region briefly became independent during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, before being conquered by Gen. Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces. In the ensuing years, the Catalan language, cultural symbols, and holidays were banned in favor of a “Castilian” nationalism, meant to promote a monolithic history of Spain. Despite Franco’s death in 1975, followed by the granting of autonomy to Catalonia, bitterness over the past remains. Catalans often draw parallels with Madrid’s current treatment of the region and that of Franco. As Professor Omar G. Encarnacion wrote in Foreign Policy, “Franco’s ghost still haunts Catalonia.”
