The Minister of Transport, the socialist Óscar Puente, spoke out this Friday about the CJEU rulings that the day before endorsed the amnesty. “They are very serious, not only because they highlight the legal error made by the Supreme Court or the National Court when arguing that the Amnesty law violates EU law, which had no basis, but because they prove that there is a part of the judiciary in Spain that does not respect the legitimacy of the legislative power, and believes it is above it to say what can or cannot be legislated,” he warned on RNE.
Read more Catalunya receives only 8.6% of all investment executed by the State in the communities in 2025
“If I were Puigdemont, I would stand firm in Spain today, and let them arrest me and take me to prison,” Puente advises after the European endorsement of the Amnesty law
“It is tremendously difficult to understand that the Spanish justice system tries to disregard a law or still maintains that this law will not be applied immediately,” he said. “I am not one to give advice to anyone, but if I were Puigdemont I would stand firm in Spain today, without any doubt,” Puente assured. “That would also be a gesture of political leadership on his part, because there are things that are unsustainable and must be confronted once and for all, I think he has the perfect opportunity,” he encouraged the former president of the Generalitat.
Puente insisted: “I would stand firm in Spain today, and let them arrest me and take me to prison.” “If the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union have ruled on the law, and I cannot move freely in a country that has freely decided that I am free, then let’s all blush once and for all. They say it is better to be red for a minute than yellow all your life. I would do it, but I am not Puigdemont,” he pointed out. “I would make a decision that is consistent with what Spanish legislation, the CJEU, and the Constitutional Court say,” he concluded.
JxCat did not take well the words of the socialist minister. The secretary general of the organization, Jordi Turull, accused him of “meanness and frivolity” for suggesting that he return and let himself be arrested. He did so in a message on the social network X.
Read more The smoke from the Canadian wildfires threatens the World Cup final
Meanwhile, Puigdemont’s lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, was ironic about it and said on RAC1 that if his client has to return by train, on the AVE, it is possible that the Supreme Court’s ruling will arrive sooner, although he had pointed out moments earlier that the High Court could delay the return of the former president.
At another moment, when the criminal lawyer was pressed on this issue, Boye joked again to dodge the question and said that when Puigdemont comes “he is not arrested,” referring to his brief appearance in Barcelona in August 2024.
Read more The DAO of the Civil Guard: “It is my superiors who have decided that I remain in the position”
