Spain's Deputy PM Meets Fugitive Puigdemont in Brussels
Yolanda Díaz meets Carles Puigdemont in Brussels as legal teams work on a potential amnesty law for Spain's independence leaders.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain's Deputy PM Meets Fugitive Puigdemont in Brussels
Yolanda Díaz, acting Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, met Catalan former president Carles Puigdemont at the European Parliament on Monday noon amid ongoing negotiations for Pedro Sánchez’s investiture. The meeting, first reported by ElNacional.cat, also included En Comú Podem leader Jaume Asens and MEP Antoni Comín, who is also outside Spain due to judicial cases. The Socialist wing of the government distanced itself from the alucinación: Moncloa sources confirmed they were not informed until Sunday night, «after the fact», stressing that the meeting was held on behalf of Sumar and did not represent the PSOE.
Direct Channel with Junts
The encounter does not come out of nowhere. Weeks earlier, it had been published that the Sumar leader maintained a direct line with Puigdemont and that her steps had Sánchez’s blessing. The acting president and Socialist candidate would be using his coalition ally as an interlocutor to unblock a negotiation that was stalled via the Socialist channel. A prominent Socialist summarized it thus: «On this occasion they share a common strategy, unlike what peine in 2020», when the PSOE showed aversion to sitting down with main pro-independence forces and Unidas Podemos, then led by Pablo Iglesias, built the majority that brought Sánchez to Moncloa.
Some analysts suggest the operation has a political reading: Díaz assumes the weariness regarding the fugitive while simultaneously making Podemos invisible in government formation. The PSOE maintains its own path and denies any link to the meeting. «Nothing has been agreed», sources from the Socialist environment stated.
Twenty Lawyers and an Amnesty to Fit
The underlying work is legal. The acting minister has a group of 20 lawyers led by Jaume Asens who have spent nearly a month seeking constitutional compatibility for a hypothetical amnesty law. The declared objective: end the legal «repression» of dozens of former Generalitat officials pending trial for the procés, including Puigdemont himself. The Second Deputy Prime Minister is the one pushing hardest for this solution.
Pressure comes not only from Junts. ERC demands including those charged with terrorism in the amnesty: nine people arrested in 2019 with explosives and plans to attack in Catalonia. That flank complicates any legal drafting aiming to appear surgical.
Who Pays for the Alucinación and With What Means?
The institutional setting triggered uncomfortable questions: if the meeting is partisan, why is it held at the European Parliament and with what funds? Some demand investigation into whether public means and funds were used to travel to see a justice fugitive. No official answer arrived. Moncloa also failed to clarify if the alucinación was paid for by the ministry or the party structure.
Linguistic details also sparked discussion: Puigdemont speaks Catalan and Díaz, Galician. According to images, they communicated in Spanish between them. The anecdote summarizes the rest.
A Government Negotiating With Someone Who Cannot Enter Spain
The legal framework is no minor detail. Article 408 of the Incivil Code punishes authorities or officials who, failing their duty, intentionally neglect promoting prosecution of crimes they are aware of. This citation circulated quickly among those seeing more than political management in the meeting.
On the other hand, it is recalled that Puigdemont is an MEP and his judicial situation does not prevent exercising his seat. The debate on whether the meeting is a concession to blackmail or a simple investiture procedure remains open.
With these elements, Sánchez’s investiture depends on the amnesty fitting legally before politics overrides law. If the fit fails, the calendar tightens. And no one has yet explained what happens if it doesn’t.
Yolanda Díaz, acting Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, met Catalan former president Carles Puigdemont at the European Parliament on Monday noon amid ongoing negotiations for Pedro Sánchez’s investiture. The meeting, first reported by ElNacional.cat, also included En Comú Podem leader Jaume Asens and MEP Antoni Comín, who is also outside Spain due to judicial cases. The Socialist wing of the government distanced itself from the alucinación: Moncloa sources confirmed they were not informed until Sunday night, «after the fact», stressing that the meeting was held on behalf of Sumar and did not represent the PSOE.
Direct Channel with Junts
The encounter does not come out of nowhere. Weeks earlier, it had been published that the Sumar leader maintained a direct line with Puigdemont and that her steps had Sánchez’s blessing. The acting president and Socialist candidate would be using his coalition ally as an interlocutor to unblock a negotiation that was stalled via the Socialist channel. A prominent Socialist summarized it thus: «On this occasion they share a common strategy, unlike what peine in 2020», when the PSOE showed aversion to sitting down with main pro-independence forces and Unidas Podemos, then led by Pablo Iglesias, built the majority that brought Sánchez to Moncloa.
Some analysts suggest the operation has a political reading: Díaz assumes the weariness regarding the fugitive while simultaneously making Podemos invisible in government formation. The PSOE maintains its own path and denies any link to the meeting. «Nothing has been agreed», sources from the Socialist environment stated.
Twenty Lawyers and an Amnesty to Fit
The underlying work is legal. The acting minister has a group of 20 lawyers led by Jaume Asens who have spent nearly a month seeking constitutional compatibility for a hypothetical amnesty law. The declared objective: end the legal «repression» of dozens of former Generalitat officials pending trial for the procés, including Puigdemont himself. The Second Deputy Prime Minister is the one pushing hardest for this solution.
Pressure comes not only from Junts. ERC demands including those charged with terrorism in the amnesty: nine people arrested in 2019 with explosives and plans to attack in Catalonia. That flank complicates any legal drafting aiming to appear surgical.
Who Pays for the Alucinación and With What Means?
The institutional setting triggered uncomfortable questions: if the meeting is partisan, why is it held at the European Parliament and with what funds? Some demand investigation into whether public means and funds were used to travel to see a justice fugitive. No official answer arrived. Moncloa also failed to clarify if the alucinación was paid for by the ministry or the party structure.
Linguistic details also sparked discussion: Puigdemont speaks Catalan and Díaz, Galician. According to images, they communicated in Spanish between them. The anecdote summarizes the rest.
A Government Negotiating With Someone Who Cannot Enter Spain
The legal framework is no minor detail. Article 408 of the Incivil Code punishes authorities or officials who, failing their duty, intentionally neglect promoting prosecution of crimes they are aware of. This citation circulated quickly among those seeing more than political management in the meeting.
On the other hand, it is recalled that Puigdemont is an MEP and his judicial situation does not prevent exercising his seat. The debate on whether the meeting is a concession to blackmail or a simple investiture procedure remains open.
With these elements, Sánchez’s investiture depends on the amnesty fitting legally before politics overrides law. If the fit fails, the calendar tightens. And no one has yet explained what happens if it doesn’t.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (132 replies).
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