Spain’s amnesty law has moved from a European legal dispute into domestic court decisions, sharpening Junts per Catalunya’s strategic choices. In July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the law was compatible with EU law and did not harm the Union’s financial interests. On 20 October, Spain’s Supreme Court applied the amnesty to Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa, extinguishing their criminal liability and lifting the remaining disqualification penalties imposed after the 2019 procés judgment. Turull, Junts’ secretary general, was among those covered by the ruling.
The decision alone does not settle the status of Carles Puigdemont or other exiled figures. Turull called for the amnesty to be applied fully, including to Puigdemont and former councillors Lluís Puig and Toni Comín. He described the ruling as a victory for the independence movement and said that “voting for Catalan independence is not, and can never be, a crime.” The Spanish government presented the implementation as evidence of the law’s constitutionality and as part of an effort to restore coexistence in Catalonia. The Supreme Court’s order was also sharply critical of the Constitutional Court.
The legal consequences reach beyond the leading political figures. The Audiencia Nacional later closed terrorism proceedings against 12 members of the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), applying the amnesty and ending the case because their criminal liability had been extinguished. The case had previously prompted a preliminary question to the CJEU over the law’s compatibility with EU obligations. The sequence shows how the European ruling is being applied in domestic proceedings involving different defendants and allegations.
Junts’ political dilemma is sharpened by a fragmented Catalan electoral field. The Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió (CEO), the Generalitat’s polling institute, has described the PSC as the projected leading party and ERC as consolidating second place, while Junts and Comuns are projected to lose ground and Vox is moving closer to the PP. Separate poll-based projections put a potential bloc of Junts, PP, Vox and Aliança Catalana at 65 to 71 seats in the 135-member Parlament, where 68 seats are required for an absolute majority. By contrast, ERC, Junts and the CUP together are projected at 46 to 50 seats. These are estimates, not election results, but they underline the stakes of Junts’ choices on alliances and parliamentary cooperation.
Polling also suggests that Aliança Catalana’s potential electorate is not simply an extension of Junts’ traditional independence base. Reported figures indicate that 40.5% of Aliança’s potential voters oppose independence and 41% identify as equally Catalan and Spanish. In a separate CEO-based analysis, 13% of Junts supporters said they might vote for the far right; 54% favoured excluding far-right parties from political agreements, while 28% opposed such a veto. Taken together, the figures point to competing pressures within Junts’ electorate, not a uniform shift toward Aliança Catalana.
Junts’ direction has been shaped by the legacy of the anti-austerity protests under Artur Mas and the political fallout from the procés. The party is divided between a more moderate approach, as seen in Barcelona, and a harder line in non-metropolitan areas. In the Spanish parliament, it has alternated between supporting the coalition government and voting alongside the PP and Vox. That ambiguity, once regarded as an asset for its predecessor Convergència, now complicates its electoral positioning. The prospect of a “Puigdemont effect,” whether through his return or continued absence, also remains bound up with the unresolved application of the amnesty.
Junts can align more closely with the PP and Vox as it competes with Aliança Catalana for voters and local influence, or present itself as a democratic centre-right force focused on rights and institutions. The latter course could mean distancing itself from Aliança Catalana and supporting government stability in parliament, including by enabling a national budget to pass. Either path carries political costs: the polling suggests potential gains for a wider right-wing bloc, but also limits to how far Junts supporters are willing to move toward far-right parties.
The dilemma is not unique to Junts. Catalonia’s parliament has also faced divisions over proposed restrictions on speculative housing purchases, highlighting tensions between local priorities and broader political values. For more on how Catalan parties have navigated contentious reforms, see this analysis of recent legislative moves in the region.
The CJEU ruling and its implementation by Spanish courts have altered the legal field surrounding the procés, while leaving impressive individual cases unresolved. Junts’ subsequent choices will shape its relationship with the Spanish government and its position in a Catalan parliament where projected alliances are close to the threshold for a majority. The basic question is whether the party can define a coherent democratic centre-right identity amid competing pressures from its electorate and Aliança Catalana.
