Catalan separatists agree to support a left-wing government in Spain in exchange for amnesty

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya and the Spanish Socialist Party signed an agreement on Thursday that paves the way for a left-wing national government.

After “weeks of intense negotiations” and “profound disagreements,” socialist politician Santos Cerdan announced that the deal means Junts will support the Spanish government for a four-year term.

In exchange for the needed support of the Catalan separatists, the parties also negotiated an “amnesty law” to erase criminal charges related to the Catalan independence push, Cerdan explained.

“We are prepared to open a new era in which, starting from a place of respect and understanding, we find a political and negotiated solution to the conflict,” he said.

The amnesty law has outraged the opposition. Every night this week, right-wing protesters have gathered in front of Socialist Party headquarters across Spain, accusing the Socialists of selling out the country. On two nights, the protests in Madrid ended in riots and clashes with police.

Isabel Ayuso, the conservative president of the region of Madrid, said the pact means the beginning of the end of Spanish democracy. “Dictatorships slowly erode, and we are at the beginning of the process,” she told the Antena 3 news channel.

Popular Party spokesperson Cuca Gamarra said the agreement is “shameful and humiliating,” and vowed that her party will fight it legally and politically from the opposition.

Ex-Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, a fugitive from Spain since the 2017 Catalan independence bid and who is expected to be able to return to Spain after the amnesty law is enacted, is scheduled to deliver a speech from Brussels later on Thursday.

Had the Socialist Party, headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, failed to secure Junts' support, Spanish voters would have had to return to the polls in fresh national elections.

It is being said that Spain could have a fully functioning government as soon as next week.