Spain's Constitutional Court ruled 7-5 on October 6, 2026, that the 2024 amnesty law covers the embezzlement charge tied to the 2017 Catalan referendum. A Supreme Court judge lifted the arrest warrant against former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont the same day, and on October 14 the Court of Auditors dropped related financial claims against him and 34 other former officials.
Constitutional Court clears the embezzlement charge
Spain's Constitutional Court voted 7-5 on October 6, 2026, to apply the country's 2024 amnesty law to the charge of misusing public funds linked to Catalonia's October 1, 2017 independence referendum, according to Catalan News. The ruling backed an appeal by former Catalan minister Dolors Bassa against an earlier Supreme Court decision that had refused amnesty for that specific charge.
Seven judges aligned with the court's progressive wing supported the ruling, while five judges considered conservative dissented, Catalan News reported. The full written judgment was expected to be published within days and would bind the Supreme Court when it applies amnesty to the remaining cases tied to the independence push.
The underlying legal dispute was whether public money spent organizing the 2017 referendum could be amnestied. The Supreme Court had argued it could not, saying organizers obtained a personal financial benefit, according to Euronews. The Constitutional Court's majority rejected that interpretation.
Minutes after the ruling, Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena lifted the national arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia's former regional president, Euronews and Al Jazeera reported. Puigdemont had lived in Belgium since fleeing Spain in 2017 and could not previously return without risking arrest.
Who is covered by the ruling
According to Catalan News, the decision also applies to former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras and former ministers Jordi Turull, Toni Comín, Lluís Puig and Raül Romeva, alongside Bassa and Puigdemont. Arrest warrants against two other former ministers were also lifted shortly after the ruling.
A separate ruling drops financial claims
On October 14, 2026, Spain's Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Cuentas) applied the amnesty law in a separate case, exonerating Puigdemont and 34 other former Catalan officials — including former president Artur Mas — over spending tied to the 2017 referendum and international promotion of the independence process between 2011 and 2017, according to Euronews and the outlet El Constitucional.
Financial claims dropped by Spain's Court of Auditors (Oct. 14, 2026), per Euronews
Claim or deposit
Amount
Status after ruling
Public Prosecutor's claim
About €3.1 million
Claim dropped under amnesty
Sociedad Civil Catalana's claim
About €5 million
Claim dropped under amnesty
Bail deposited by the 35 defendants
More than €4 million
Ordered lifted by the court
The court's reasoning, as reported by Euronews, was that the spending at issue was not paid from European Union budget funds, which allowed the amnesty law to apply. The ruling is not final: it can still be appealed to the Court of Auditors' own appellate chamber and, after that, to Spain's Supreme Court.
Reactions
Junts secretary-general Jordi Turull called the Constitutional Court ruling "a great victory," saying the exiled leaders had "prevailed in Europe, and today they have prevailed against the Spanish state," Al Jazeera reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the independence conflict as "a political problem" and said the amnesty sent a message of "coexistence among Catalans," according to Al Jazeera and Catalan News.
As far as relations between Catalonia and Spain are concerned, nothing is being resolved today.
— Carles Puigdemont, speaking from Waterloo, Belgium, quoted by Euronews
Speaking after the warrant was lifted, Puigdemont also described the legal proceedings he had faced as an improper use of judicial power, according to Euronews, and said his exile had been a political decision to defend the rights of Catalan citizens.
Background: from the 2017 referendum to the 2024 amnesty
Puigdemont led Catalonia's regional government when it held the October 1, 2017 independence referendum, which Madrid had declared illegal; he fled to Belgium after the central government imposed direct rule on the region, Euronews reported. He briefly returned to Barcelona in August 2024 during the investiture of regional president Salvador Illa but left again without being arrested.
The 2024 amnesty law, covering people prosecuted over the independence movement, was secured after Puigdemont's Junts party agreed to back Pedro Sánchez's return as prime minister, Al Jazeera reported. Junts later withdrew that support, a move that contributed to Sánchez calling early elections.
What happens next
Spain is due to hold a general election on November 29, 2026, according to Euronews. Puigdemont, who still holds a regional parliamentary seat with delegated voting rights, has not announced a date to return to Spain; his legal team has urged caution, saying a return now could still expose him to being summoned for testimony even though arrest is no longer imminent, Euronews reported.
Questions
Has Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain?
As of mid-October 2026 he had not; he remains in Waterloo, Belgium, and has not announced a return date. His legal team has advised caution despite the arrest warrant being lifted, according to Euronews.
What exactly did Spain's Constitutional Court decide on October 6, 2026?
It ruled 7-5 that the 2024 amnesty law applies to the embezzlement charge tied to Catalonia's 2017 independence referendum, reversing the Supreme Court's earlier refusal to amnesty that specific charge, according to Catalan News.
Why had the Supreme Court excluded embezzlement from amnesty in the first place?
The Supreme Court had argued that organizers of the 2017 referendum obtained a personal financial benefit from the public money spent, which it said made the charge ineligible for amnesty, according to Euronews. The Constitutional Court's majority disagreed.
What did the Court of Auditors rule on October 14, 2026?
It applied the amnesty law to Puigdemont and 34 other former Catalan officials in a separate case over referendum and 'procés' promotion spending, dropping prosecutors' and Sociedad Civil Catalana's financial claims and lifting more than €4 million in bail, according to Euronews and El Constitucional. The ruling can still be appealed.
Which other independence leaders are covered by the amnesty ruling?
Catalan News reported the ruling also covers Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Toni Comín, Lluís Puig, Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa, in addition to Puigdemont.
How the world is telling it
SpanishSpanish-language coverage (Euronews en español) focused on legal and financial granularity — exact euro amounts claimed by prosecutors and Sociedad Civil Catalana, the bail sums lifted, and the remaining appeal routes through the Court of Auditors and Supreme Court — alongside caution from Puigdemont's own legal team about returning too soon.
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