Spanish government set to pardon nine Catalan independence leaders

Prime minister says controversial decision opposed by many Spaniards will open path to reconciliation'

Spain's socialist-led government will on Tuesday approve the deeply controversial pardons of the nine Catalan independence leaders who were jailed over their roles in the illegal, failed attempt to secede from the rest of the country in October 2017.

The prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has acknowledged that the decision will anger many Spaniards, but insists the act of clemency is the best way to bring the country back together and to help find a political solution to the enduring territorial crisis.