ERC senators Mirella Cortès and Bernat Picornell have taken their oaths of office today, saying they will work "for the release of the Catalan political prisoners, for the return of the exiles and until the consolidation of the Catalan Republic". Both were wearing yellow t-shirts reading "Free Junqueras", referring to the Catalan vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, currently being held in pretrial detention near Madrid.
"I swear by legal imperative", they said in front of the chamber's speaker, Pio García-Escudero. He acted as if he hadn't heard their additions to the standard formula, in comical scenes, and thanked them for "swearing to the Constitution". He had to ask Cortès three times and Picornell once to give their oaths in Catalan, instead of Spanish.
The speaker had fewer problems with new senator Lorena Roldán (Ciutadans), who was also sworn in today.
The Spanish Senate has 266 members. 208 are elected directly, 4 from each mainland province, different numbers from the various Balearic and Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Melilla and Ceuta. The remaining 58 are nominated by the legislative assemblies of the different autonomous communities, the number proportional to the community's population. Last Friday, the Catalan Parliament voted on its 8 senators for this legislature, who were sworn in today.