Spain's lower house, the Congress of Deputies has agreed this Tuesday to set the final vote on the amnesty legislation for May 30th. That date was already the one thought most likely, but Congress's board of party spokespeople needed to confirm it. What is not known is when the law to put an end to Catalan independence process prosecutions will be published in the state gazette, which is crucial since that is when it enters into force; although it will be a matter of days after May 30th. The Spanish Cortes - the houses of parliament - will thus pass the ball on the amnesty measure to the Spanish judges. If the latter obey the law, they will have two months to implement it. However, it will also be necessary to see if some judges try to dodge it by accusing pro-independence parties of crimes such as terrorism, as judge Manuel García-Castellón is trying to do. They will also be able to present preliminary questions to the EU courts, even though the text of the soon-to-be law provides that interim measures - such as arrest warrants and preventive imprisonment - will lapse even if a consultation has been lodged with the European Court of Justice.
Thus, Congress will definitively pass the amnesty law on May 30th; two weeks after the Senate returned it to the lower house presenting a veto to the entirety of the bill. This will put an end to a journey that began almost a year ago, when Together for Catalonia (Junts) and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) set the passing of such a law as a condition for giving their essential parliamentary support to enable Pedro Sánchez to lead a new Spanish government. Over this period, the parties first negotiated the text of the legislation, they then presented it to Congress and ended up renegotiating further to strengthen it, finally passing it and sending it on to the Senate, where the People's Party holds the majority and staged a filibuster which was in the end futile, as the Spanish upper house can only delay legislation or suggest amendments, but is unable to veto or definitively alter it.
On May 30th, it can be expected, then, that the legislation to put an end to the judicial persecution of Catalan independentists will receive the green light from the PSOE, Sumar, ERC, Junts, Bildu, PNV, Podem, BNG and the independent deputy José Luis Ábalos: a total of 178 votes. It can also be foreseen that, once again, the PP, Vox, UPN and CC (which add up to 172 votes) will oppose it.
To make even more noise, Alberto Núñez Feijóo's main opposition party has called for May 26th - four days before the approval - yet another demonstration in Madrid against the soon-to-be law. The PP has already announced that it will present an appeal against the amnesty to the Constitutional Court, where progressive judges are currently in the majority.