In the midst of the debate on the partial and reversible pardons of the Catalan prisoners, a debate that the Spanish government is trying to cool down as much as possible, since it finds itself short of that quality, so difficult to find today, which is called political courage, the social rights minister, who is also a candidate for the leadership of Podemos, Ione Belarra, has declared something that has opened up Pandora's box and sown fear, indeed, panic, in the body of the PSOE: president Puigdemont should be able to return to Spain without being arrested, "because otherwise it would be an enormous incongruity." All the PSOE representatives who possibly could stepped out to extinguish the media and political fire caused by Belarra, but the blaze was already out of control.
The minister has opened a debate that is almost due: when, how and under what conditions will the Catalan president in exile be able to return to Catalonia? Both the spokesperson for the Pedro Sánchez executive, treasury minister María Jesús Montero (PSOE) - who was quick to try to cut off the discussion at its roots by noting that her government is confident that he will be extradited to Spain by the Belgian authorities to be tried - and also the transport portfolio holder, José Luis Ábalos (PSOE) - who differentiated the role of the convicted prisoners from that of the Catalan president and government members who went into exile in Belgium and aligned with their party colleague - failed in their attempts to create firebreaks. They were so useless that I do not know how long it will take the legal teams of Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí to convey the clear statements of position by a minister of the government of Spain to the courts of Brussels that will have to rule on the European Arrest Warrants issued by the Supreme Court.
But let's proceed step by step. Is the Spanish government seriously considering facilitating the return of Puigdemont? The answer can only be negative. Are the president’s lawyers already analyzing whether this will be possible and studying a likely timetable? I would venture to say that, for the first time, they are. Not because of the words of Belarra, who, at least in the Puigdemont case, seems to have an opinion not very different from that of Pablo Iglesias, whom she will replace. But because the combination of the provisional recovery of the MEPs' parliamentary immunity - we will see if Luxembourg ends up making it definitive or not - and the approval of pardons gives a much more open situation when addressing the different scenarios.
What a few months ago may have looked like a mirage that was years distant, has turned inside out like a sock. Perhaps, as a first step, Spain might accept that immunity to circulate throughout the EU territory also includes Spain. It would be so simple, but of enormous value, and for that it would only have to align with the rest of the EU member states. It is clear that there are some governments who point in this direction, and hanging in the middle is the European aid from the Covid funds. Sometimes, in the small print there are not only economic measures, but also the obligation to change course on unacceptable situations. It will not be immediate, but today when you ask people here and there if this will happen before Christmas, the response is no longer the same as before, but rather that it might still take a little while. We shall see.