PSOE defends Junts deal as way to solve 'conflict' in Spain's Catalonia region

It took a long time coming, but acting PM Pedro Sánchez finally got it on Thursday this week. His PSOE Socialist party and Catalan-separatist party Junts signed the political agreement that guarantees he should be sworn in as prime minister, probably as soon as the end of next week.

The deal revolves around the controversial amnesty law for those in Catalonia accused of being involved in the illegal independence referendum in 2017. But it also goes beyond that.

In the PSOE-Junts text, the Socialists - who have presented the pact as a "historic chance" to resolve the "conflict" in Catalonia - commit themselves to begin negotiating the "national recognition" of the Catalan region from as early as this month.

But Junts is also committed to "negotiated and agreed" solutions, which means, at least for the time being, the Catalan separatist party is putting aside calls for unilateral independence.

Leader of Junts Carles Puigdemont said from Brussels on Thursday that the all-important support for the future PSOE government from his seven MPs would depend on Sánchez honouring his commitments over time.

Puigdemont needs to see the draft text of the amnesty law registered in parliament before ordering his MPs to vote for Sánchez. For the moment, the text of the law is not being published while the PSOE briefs the other parties supporting it into power, especially Junts' rival in Catalonia, ERC.

Puigdemont had insisted that more cases not directly linked to the independence declaration be added to the amnesty law, but in the end those will be reviewed in the future by an independent commission, this week's deal says.