Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Spain’s Catalonia region, has asked the European Commission to intervene in a dispute over the amnesty granted to those involved in Catalonia’s failed independence campaign.
Puigdemont led the wealthy north-eastern region when its separatist government held an illegal independence referendum in 2017. After the Spanish authorities brought charges against him, he left the country and has spent much of the intervening period in Belgium.
His lawyers filed a complaint against Spain with the European Commission on Tuesday. They accuse Spain’s Court of Auditors, which investigates the misuse of public money, of breaking European Union law by failing to apply the amnesty immediately.
The dispute concerns money allegedly spent by the Catalan regional government on the 2017 independence campaign. Around 30 former Catalan officials could be required to repay millions of euros if they are found to have misused public funds.
The Court of Auditors has asked prosecutors and defence lawyers whether the officials could be excluded from the amnesty if any of the spending came from the EU budget.
Puigdemont’s lawyers deny that EU money was involved. They also argue that a recent ruling by the EU’s highest court supports applying the amnesty to the case.
They have asked the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, to begin formal legal proceedings against Spain. They also accuse the Court of Auditors of misrepresenting the European judgment and unnecessarily prolonging the case.
Financial guarantees and other temporary measures worth more than €9.5 million remain in place against those involved while the proceedings continue.
The dispute could have serious consequences for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Sánchez’s centre-left Socialist Party failed to win a parliamentary majority at Spain’s 2023 general election. To remain prime minister, he needed the support of several smaller parties, including Puigdemont’s Catalan separatist party, Junts.
Junts agreed to provide its seven votes in return for an amnesty covering politicians and activists involved in the independence campaign. Those votes were decisive in allowing Sánchez to form another government.
The Spanish government can argue that it does not control the courts or the Court of Auditors. However, Junts supported Sánchez because it expected the amnesty to end legal and financial proceedings against Puigdemont and other separatist leaders—not merely because it wanted parliament to approve the legislation.
Puigdemont can therefore argue that Sánchez has failed to deliver his side of the agreement, even if the obstacles come from institutions outside the government’s direct control.
Junts does not necessarily have to withdraw its support permanently to cause problems. It can block individual bills, demand further concessions or help inflict repeated parliamentary defeats on the government.
Without its seven MPs, Sánchez has no dependable majority. His government relies on a fragile alliance of left-wing, regionalist and separatist parties with very different political aims.
Spain’s main opposition parties—the centre-right People’s Party and the right-wing Vox—currently lead in opinion polls. Sánchez can nevertheless remain in office unless Junts or another parliamentary ally turns against him.
