The Spanish parliament passed the promised amnesty bill last year, but its full application has since been halted by the courts. Spain’s Supreme Court has specifically blocked Puigdemont — who fled Spain following the failed 2017 Catalan independence referendum and has since lived in exile in Waterloo, Belgium — from benefiting from the law, citing pending embezzlement charges.
Carles Puigdemont said the Socialists no longer “have the capacity to govern.” | Gloria Sanchez/Getty Images
The lack of change in his status quo is a source of deep frustration for the separatist leader, who in a 2024 interview with POLITICO said his greatest desire was to “go home to Girona, to enjoy my homeland and be with my wife and daughters … to lead a normal life that will allow me to become anonymous once again.”
Puigdemont also cited the Socialists’ inability to get Catalan recognized as an official EU language as a reason for the break in relations. Spanish diplomats have spent the past two years lobbying counterparts in Brussels and national capitals and recently persuaded Germany to back the proposal. But numerous countries remain opposed to the idea, arguing the move would cost the EU millions of euros in new translation and interpretation fees and embolden Breton, Corsican or Russian-speaking minorities to seek similar recognition.
The separatist leader added that the Sánchez government’s reluctance to give Catalonia jurisdiction over immigration within that region proved that although there might be “personal trust” between the Socialists and Junts’ representatives, “political trust” was lacking.
Junts’ members are now called upon to either ratify or reject the executive committee’s decision in an internal consultation that concludes Thursday. The party’s supporters, who include Puigdemont’s most devoted followers, are expected to overwhelmingly back the move to break with the Socialists.
Over the past two years Junts has hardly been an unwavering source of support for Sánchez’s weak minority government. The party has declined to back key bills and stressed that it is not part of the “progressive” coalition composed of the Socialists and the left-wing Sumar party, but rather a pragmatic partner that is solely focused on Catalonia’s interests.
At a meeting of the Socialist Party leadership in Madrid on Monday, Sánchez insisted the party should “remain open to dialogue and willing to engage” with Junts.
Following Puigdemont’s speech, Science and Universities Minister Diana Morant expressed doubts “Junts’ electorate voted in favor of letting Vox or the People’s Party govern” and said the Catalan separatists needed to “choose whether they want Spain to represent progress or regression.”