Spain's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved an amnesty bill for Catalan separatists, clearing a major hurdle for a law set to define Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's second term - and one that has led to protests and annoyed judges.
The approval, by 178-172 votes, is good news for Sanchez after several political setbacks including a COVID face-mask scandal in recent weeks.
The legislation must still be cleared by the conservative-dominated Senate and the conservative People's Party has said it will try to block it.
But any upper house veto could later be overridden by the lower house in a final vote around May or June.
The socialist-led minority coalition government hopes that securing consensus on the controversial bill will help cement its alliance with the small parties it relies on to get legislation passed.
Nonetheless, it decided on Wednesday not to send an already delayed 2024 budget bill to parliament after Catalonia unexpectedly called an election for May 12, amid fears the regional political dispute that prompted that move could spill over to the national congress and hurt its own support.
"We are seeking to end the era of confrontation and open a new era of reconciliation," said socialist lawmaker Patxi Lopez during a heated parliamentary debate.
People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said the bill only showed Sanchez's weakness and his "submission" to separatists' demands. The conservatives have argued the socialists' actions imperil the rule of law.
In January, in a humiliating defeat for the socialists, Junts - the Catalan party that sought the amnesty bill in return for backing Sanchez's new term last year - voted against it because it could not guarantee certain separatists, including self-exiled leader Carles Puigdemont, would be covered by it.
"The amnesty responds to a goal... to overcome an erroneous period of judicial and police repression of a political movement," Puigdemont wrote on social media platform X after the vote, underscoring that it was "not an end point" to Catalonia's independence ambitions.
Under a fresh deal reached last week after protracted talks between the socialists, Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party, a probe of separatists including Puigdemont over alleged terrorism for leading an activist group that staged a 2019 raid on Barcelona airport is sidestepped.
The bill uses a broader European definition of terrorism with the intention of ensuring those involved can still be covered by the amnesty even if found guilty in Spain.
Junts and some socialists say the prosecution is being led by conservative judges seeking to block the amnesty and spoil an improved relationship between the national government and Catalonia.
The bill's latest version defines terrorism by a 2017 EU directive, meaning it would have to have caused serious human rights violations, something that does not appear to have happened in the case facing Puigdemont.
Junts' officials say it should benefit an additional 150-200 people, and 1,500 people overall, depending on judges' interpretations.
The bill will cover all events related to Catalonia's separatist drive from 2011, including an independence referendum in 2017 which was declared illegal by courts.
