What's happened
Catalan separatist party's rejection of amnesty bill creates setback for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
Why it matters
The rejection of the amnesty bill by the Catalan separatist party has created a setback for the Spanish Prime Minister, highlighting the fragility of his parliamentary support and potentially paralyzing his government.
What the papers say
The rejection of the amnesty bill by the Catalan separatist party has created a setback for the Spanish Prime Minister, highlighting the fragility of his parliamentary support and potentially paralyzing his government. The bill was rejected by 179 votes to 171 in the 350-seat parliament, where Sánchez's left-wing minority government is dependent on a patchwork of support to pass legislation (France 24). The rejection of the measure in Spain's 350-seat lower house was a setback for Mr. Sánchez, creating the likelihood of more weeks of arduous negotiations (New York Times). The failure of the bill underscores the fragility of Pedro Sánchez's government as it struggled to manage the demands of Junts, on which it depends to pass legislation (The Times).
How we got here
Last year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez formed a government with the support of the Catalan separatist party, agreeing to put forward an amnesty bill in exchange for parliamentary support. However, the rejection of the bill by the Catalan separatist party has now created a significant setback for Sánchez's government.
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Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón is a Spanish politician serving as Prime Minister of Spain since 2 June 2018. On 7 January 2020, Pedro Sanchez was confirmed by the Congress of Deputies as Prime Minister with a lead of just two votes, heading the first coa
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Catalonia is an autonomous community on the northeastern corner of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy.
Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.
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Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan pro-independence politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament.
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Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula.