SPAIN’S parliament today approved a controversial amnesty Bill aimed at forgiving crimes committed by Catalan separatists during an attempt to hold an independence referendum in the region six years ago.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promoted the amnesty as a way to move past the 2017 secession attempt by the then leaders of Catalonia, a north-eastern region centred around Barcelona.

The secession crisis erupted in 2017 when a regional administration staged a referendum on independence, defying orders from the national government and a ruling from Spain’s top court. 

Mr Sanchez agreed to the amnesty to secure the backing of two Catalan separatist parties, after an inconclusive national election last July.

The conservative opposition accuses Mr Sanchez of selling out the rule of law in exchange for another term in the Moncloa Palace and has organised major street protests during recent months.

Socialist Party parliamentary spokesman Patxi Lopez defended the Bill as a move to seek a page-turning “reconciliation” with Catalonia.

But opposition Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo hit back, saying that “this is not reconciliation but submission.”

The Senate, which has a right-wing majority, must now vote on the Bill. If they reject it the parliament’s lower house will have to vote for it a second time to push it through.