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At Barcelona rally, Spanish right lambasts amnesty plan

Spain's right-wing leaders lambasted plans to grant Catalan separatists an amnesty in exchange for supporting a new left-wing government at a Barcelona rally Sunday that drew tens of thousands.

Published: 8 October 2023 14:21 CEST
Updated: 8 October 2023 17:17 CEST

Protesters hold Spain's flags and 'No to amnesty' signs during a right-wing protest against plans to grant Catalan separatists an amnesty in order to form Spain's next government, in Barcelona on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)

King Felipe VI charged Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez this week with forming a new government, for which he needs crucial support from a hardline Catalan separatist party.

In exchange, the party has demanded an amnesty for those facing legal action over Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid which triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

The proposal has enraged the right which says amnesty cannot be used as a bargaining chip for Sanchez to remain in power.

Huge crowds waving Spanish and Catalan flags flooded Barcelona city centre for the rally called by Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) which is opposed to the northeastern region breaking away from Spain.

Spain has been mired in political uncertainty since an inconclusive July election that was won by the right-wing Popular Party but without enough support to form a government, with leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo failing a key September vote to become premier.

Now it’s Sanchez’s turn and his Socialists and their hard-left Sumar allies support the idea of granting the amnesty demanded by JxCat, whose leader Carles Puigdemont led the 2017 secession bid then fled Spain to avoid prosecution and would benefit from the move.

The idea is anathema to the right for whom Puigdemont is public enemy number one and also a red line for some within Sanchez’s Socialist party.

“No amnesty!” and “Send Puigdemont to prison!” shouted the demonstrators, who numbered more than 50,000, Barcelona police said. Organisers gave a figure of 300,000.

“This is not an amnesty that seeks reconciliation, it is exclusively aimed at getting into the prime minister’s office,” said Feijoo, whose bid to become prime minister with the support of the far-right Vox left him isolated within the parliament.

“It’s unacceptable that politicians should break the law, some to reach the prime minister’s office… others to settle their debt with the law,” he said, as Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who was also there, blasted it as “an assault on the Constitution”.

Sumar to present amnesty document

Sanchez has shown himself to be a tenacious political survivor with a knack for striking deals with rival parties and is confident he will be returned to power, pledging “generosity” in talks with the separatists while admitting they would be “complicated”.

He began formal talks with Sumar about renewing his mandate this week, with the hard left party’s leader Yolanda Diaz, who is also acting labour minister, due to lay out a legal document on the amnesty proposal in Barcelona on Tuesday.

“We are aware of Sumar’s proposal about the amnesty as well as those of other parties which is good because it’s a way of trying to resolve the judicial implications” of the 2017 independence bid, he said during an EU summit in Granada on Friday.

The document has already been sent to JxCat, which thanked Sumar for its “willingness to reach an agreement” and pledged to look at it in detail. The party’s more moderate separatist rival ERC — on whom Sanchez is also counting for support — also received a copy.

Sanchez, who has sought to calm separatist tensions since coming to office five years ago, in 2021 pardoned Catalan separatist leaders who were serving long prison terms over the secession bid.

Sanchez needs to secure support from at least 176 lawmakers within the 350-seat parliament to win a key vote that must take place before November 27.

If he fails, Spain will automatically be forced to hold new elections, most likely in mid-January.

At Sunday’s rally, 53-year-old lecturer Araceli Rodriguez told AFP she was “absolutely against” an amnesty because it would be akin to whitewashing the 2017 crisis.

“What you cannot do is to sell out Spanish democracy on the strength of only seven votes,” said Rodriguez, referring to the votes of JxCat’s seven lawmakers.

“Approving an amnesty is selling out Spanish democracy for the partisan interests of a party that didn’t even win the election.”

Member comments

Anonymous - 9 October 2023 at 13:07 CEST

I find the headline of this piece misleading. It is not specifically the “Spanish right” that is opposed to the amnesty – many from the left are against it too. It’s also worth pointing out that Puigdemont is himself from the right.

The issue of Catalan separatism cannot therefore be defined as a simple battle between left and right.

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and British in Spain felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of Jane Golding

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 5.5 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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