PM concedes to Catalan separatists on amnesty bill

The Spanish prime minister has bowed to demands from the fugitive Catalan separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, to reach an agreement over a highly controversial amnesty law.

Pedro Sanchez pledged to pass an amnesty exonerating figures sentenced or prosecuted for their role in Catalonia's failed illegal independence attempt in 2017 in exchange for crucial parliamentary support from Puigdemont's Junts party.

The Socialist party, led by Sanchez, failed to secure a majority in inconclusive general elections last year, leaving his fragile left-wing minority government in need of the support of Junts and other regional nationalist parties to retain power.

Puigdemont rejected a previous draft of the amnesty bill and Junts voted against it in Parliament on January 30.

His party said it did not protect the Catalan politician and others facing possible charges of treason and terrorism.

Spanish courts have reopened terrorism investigations into the Catalan separatist leader as tensions mount between the Government and the judiciary over the amnesty law.

Before the January 30 vote, the Socialists said they would not cede to Puigdemont's demands.

However, to secure his support, Sanchez was obliged to make fresh concessions on an amnesty and laws covering treachery to the constitution and embezzlement – all crimes for which separatists are facing prison sentences.

The law will concern “all people linked to the independence process" and will be "fully compliant with the constitution, the law and European jurisprudence”, the parties added.

A parliamentary commission was due to examine the bill on Thursday before it is voted on at a later date.