Salvador Illa defends the application of the amnesty in the face of reproaches from the independence movement: "You didn't want it"

BarcelonaWith the ECJ's endorsement still present and the day after former president Carles Puigdemont denounced Spain to the European Commission for non-compliance with the law, separatism has taken advantage of the last control session with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to pressure him, but above all to bring back his hemeroteca. This has been done by the leader of Junts in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, when she told him: "First he said "no amnesty or anything like that"". Shortly after, the head of ERC in the chamber, Josep Maria Jové, was added, who asked him to "remember": "You didn't want it." The President of the Generalitat avoided engaging and defended looking "forward": "An amnesty was necessary so that negotiations could be normalized in Catalonia.

Both Junts and ERC have once again claimed the "victory" that the ECJ's decision represents, and Illa has taken the opportunity to join in and defend the usefulness of the rule. The president has highlighted that the European court's ruling "is very good news" and has reiterated that the text fully complies with European law, as he has recently defended. In response to Sales and Jové, the president has justified his government's commitment to amnesty and concluded that criminal oblivion was the only way "for those who should never have left the political arena to return to it."

But apart from the amnesty, Sales also took advantage of the last control session to again reproach Illa the deficit of state investments and has warned that "Madrid receives almost three times more than Catalonia". The spokesperson has described the data as "a complete humiliation" and has accused the president of "remaining silent" and "tolerating it". For his part, Illa, while admitting a "problem" with execution, has requested support from the Junts party for the investment consortium that the socialists have agreed with ERC, but which has not yet seen the light of day due to a lack of support in Congress, including that of Junts. "You have not made any proposal to strengthen it. More than complaining, complaining and complaining," Illa told Sales.

Beyond the amnesty, the comuns have taken advantage of this Wednesday's control session to make a very specific request to Illa: Jéssica Albiach has demanded that the headquarters at Via Laietana 43 become a memory space "in its entirety" and has requested the definitive transfer of the National Police out of respect for the victims of Francoism. The president has endorsed the creation of the space, but has defended its compatibility with the current police station because, he stressed, the current Spanish force "is a democratic police force".

The Spanish team

From the PP, on the other hand, they wanted to focus on the victory of the Spanish national team. Alejandro Fernández, leader of the group in the Catalan chamber, has accused Illa of applying Orwellian "doublethink": on the one hand, "congratulating on social media for Spain's victory in the World Cup" and, on the other, "voting against receiving the champion Catalans in Parliament". The head of the executive replied that he had already proposed receiving the nine Catalan players from the national team at the Palau de la Generalitat, who finally "could not come", and assured: "I don't need any agreement from the Parliament of Catalonia to know what I have to do". This assertion further ignited Fernández, who snapped at him: "Here only your excellence is important. But what is this about? Relax a little".

The CUP also referred to the victory of the Spanish national team, but did so to criticize Illa for celebrating their success while no agreement for Catalan national teams advances, as pointed out by deputy Dani Cornellà. "Don't celebrate what you don't want to celebrate, but I celebrate what I find convenient", Illa replied to him.