Spain’s Parliament approved on Thursday a controversial amnesty bill aimed at forgiving crimes — both proven and alleged — committed by Catalan separatists during a chaotic attempt to hold an independence referendum in the region six years ago.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has promoted the amnesty as a way to move past the 2017 secession attempt by the then-leaders of Catalonia, a northeastern region centered around Barcelona where many speak the local Catalan language as well as Spanish.
