PP challenges Spain's amnesty in Brussels; Puigdemont charged with terrorism

Total offensive against Spain's amnesty: Brussels, terrorism charges and street protests

The amnesty law required by the Spanish government to invest Pedro Sánchez has become the most extensive battleground in recent memory. The People's Party (PP) has formally requested European Union intervention against the measure, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) approved an unprecedented institutional declaration, and the National Court indicted Carles Puigdemont and Marta Rovira for terrorism. Simultaneously, citizen demonstrations are sweeping across Spain with slogans against the PSOE. This is not a single front: there are four, advancing simultaneously.

What peine and who made the move

The PP has formalized its request to Brussels for a ruling on the amnesty law. The strategy aims to shift the conflict from the Spanish parliamentary arena to the European framework, where rule of law and separation of powers are criteria regularly used by the European Commission — although, as several analyses note, almost always against Hungary and Poland. The CGPJ, for its part, approved an institutional declaration described as unprecedented, a move that places the judicial governing body in direct collision with the Executive.

The terrorism indictment that changes the game

The National Court has indicted Puigdemont and Rovira for terrorism. It is the most significant judicial development of the period and reorders the narrative: if the amnesty is sold as a political normalization measure, the indictment introduces a crime that the law itself would have to cover. Some argue this strengthens the judges' position against the legislator; conversely, it is argued that amnesty, by definition, erases what justice pursues. The tension between these two logics does not resolve itself.

The streets and the erosion of the official narrative

Citizen demonstrations against the amnesty have spread throughout Spain with slogans targeting the PSOE. While not a new phenomenon, their persistence is. Part of the analysis suggests that socialist voters are not largely opposed to the measure; another part responds that this very fact demonstrates the apparatus's resistance to acknowledging the electoral cost. The circulating calculation — which should be taken with caution — indicates that a relevant portion of PSOE voters reject the amnesty despite maintaining their vote.

The ghost of '34 and memory as a weapon

Much of the debate has shifted toward historical comparison. It is recalled that the PSOE granted amnesty in 1936 to those involved in the 1934 Asturian uprising, a parallelism used to claim that the current amnesty repeats patterns. The comparison is debated and debatable: some consider it propaganda, others a warning. What is factual is that historical memory has returned to the center of political confrontation, with the two Spains looking at each other again as if time had not passed.

Europe, the referee that doesn't officiate

The PP's request to Brussels clashes with widespread skepticism. Some argue that the European Union has protected and provided institutional shelter to Catalan separatists for years, with no signs of changing course now. The European Commission has been selective in applying Article 7: yes for Hungary and Poland, no for Spain. This asymmetry feeds the thesis that Brussels acts as an instrument of the 2030 Agenda rather than a guarantor of the rule of law. The thesis is debatable, but the data on selectivity is hard to refute.

What comes next: elections, prison or nothing

The question hovering over the entire issue is what happens if the amnesty does not pass. Some point to a repeat election as the natural outcome; others argue Sánchez will not call one because his calculation involves exhausting the legislature. The terrorism indictment of Puigdemont adds an unpredictable variable: if the case advances, the former president could end up in a situation that even the amnesty does not resolve. The reserved prediction is that the conflict will fester, the streets will continue, and Brussels will look the other way. None of this is written.