Overview
- Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the 2023 amnesty applies to embezzlement charges linked to the 2017 Catalan referendum, reversing earlier Supreme Court limits on the law.
- Hours after that decision, Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena lifted national arrest warrants for Carles Puigdemont and two former ministers and instructed police not to detain them on that basis.
- Judges and officials say the lift is provisional and does not finally extinguish criminal liability or automatically extend to people who did not bring the appeal.
- The legal moves remove a main hurdle to Puigdemont returning from Belgium but leave uncertain whether he will come back or take part in the November 29 election.
- The amnesty and the court rulings have deepened political tensions, with the conservative PP and Vox opposing the law and protests continuing while Junts trails in opinion polls, which could affect post-election coalition deals.