Puigdemont Can Go Home, and May Hold Spain’s Balance
Spain’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the amnesty law for Catalan separatists covers the embezzlement charges against Carles Puigdemont, and a Supreme Court judge lifted his arrest warrant on Tuesday. He fled to Belgium in 2017 after the independence referendum Madrid declared illegal, and has defeated several extradition attempts since. No date has been given for his return.
Jordi Turull, secretary-general of Junts, put it as a verdict on the state rather than a court ruling: “They held firm, they resisted, they prevailed in Europe, and today they have prevailed against the Spanish state.” Pedro Sánchez says he does not regret the amnesty and welcomed the decision — “the important message is that of coexistence among Catalans” — which is easier to say now than it was in 2023, when Junts votes were the only reason he could form a government, given in exchange for those amnesties. Junts withdrew its support a year ago and was decisive in the government losing two votes this week on emergency housing measures, taken amid street protests over rents; Sánchez responded by calling a snap election for November, betting that housing anger mobilises his own side. The arithmetic is where it becomes interesting. The conservative People’s Party leads the polls but may need Junts and other centre-right parties to govern, so the politician Madrid spent eight years trying to extradite could end up deciding who runs Spain. A Junts official says he is unlikely to stand himself.