MADRID: Spain’s government says it will allow its nine high-profile Catalan separatists in custody to be moved to prisons closer to their homes in northeastern Catalonia.
Government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa says Friday that the “path is clear to move” the prisoners, after the judge investigating their role in last year’s illegal secession bid said they didn’t need to remain in prisons near the court in Madrid.
Celaa said the date has yet to be set for them to be moved, while they await trial on charges which include rebellion, disobedience and misuse of public funds.
Spain’s new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is meeting Catalonia’s new separatist leader Quim Torra on July 9.
Moving the prisoners is seen as a gesture toward mending the incredibly fraught relations between Madrid and Barcelona.
Spain to move Catalan separatists to prisons near home
A man waves an "Estelada", Catalan separatist flag, outside the Generalitat Palace in Barcelona, Spain, May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Albert Gea