Satisfaction at Moncloa with the opinion of the EU Advocate General on the amnestyJust minutes after the ruling upholding much of the law was released, the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, celebrated it in the halls of Congress as a "resounding victory," since the report, he pointed out, "clearly states" that the law "is in accordance with European law." Conversely, the People's Party (PP) believes the opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) "warns of a violation of the rule of law," according to the conservative Deputy Secretary for Institutional Relations, Cuca Gamarra. From Junts, former president Carles Puigdemont, who is still awaiting the application of the amnesty, asserted that the ruling "exposes" the strategy to "block the application of the law," and the Secretary General, Jordi Turull, called on the Constitutional Court to enforce its implementation. Likewise, in ERC, the party's president, Oriol Junqueras, also awaiting the full implementation of the law, celebrated the decision while awaiting the final ruling from the CJEU. Referring to Puigdemont, but without mentioning him by name, Bolaños stated that today's move "is another step in applying the amnesty to all the leaders of the Process," and argued that it should be applied "particularly to its most prominent leaders." The minister asserted that the lawyer's conclusions "reiterate" the defense of constitutionality and conformity with European law maintained by the executive branch, and emphasized that the CJEU "completely refutes" the "falsehood" of the self-amnesty. The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, Óscar López, expressed a similar sentiment, stating that the amnesty law "will be implemented as normal." In this regard, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, demanded that it be applied "swiftly and without subterfuge," and expressed his satisfaction with the resolution, which he described as a "significant step." He also called for "prudence" until the court issues its ruling. The Popular Party (PP) does not share this view, focusing on the part of the opinion that indicates the law is contrary to European legislation by restricting to two months the maximum period for the Court of Auditors to analyze an amnesty request from a defendant. While the report states that the law does not affect the EU's financial interests, defends the objective of social and political reconciliation, and denies that it constitutes a "self-amnesty," it does criticize this specific aspect. Therefore, the PP argues that the amnesty law "violates the rule of law in Spain and Europe." "These conclusions are extremely serious," noted Cuca Gamarra, who said she would await the final ruling from the CJEU. A decision that Vox has dismissed: "What European bodies say doesn't matter to us at all. We know what the coup-plotting criminals did," declared the leader of the far-right party in the Catalan Parliament, Ignacio Garriga.

1. Alfonso Armada, a general in the Spanish army, was sentenced to 26 years, eight months, and one day of major imprisonment for being, along with Milans del Bosch, the leader of the attempted military coup d'état in February 1981. Only seven years later, and almost as a Christmas present, the PSOE cabinet pardoned Armada. The president of that government was none other than Felipe González. Those who wanted to reverse democracy in Spain, those who sought to interrupt the Transition and return to the Francoist ways of the last forty years, were pardoned by a socialist government that had no need to. Perhaps there we already had an indication of where the character stood.