The pardons

On Tuesday 28 July, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved five partial pardons. One went to Laura Borràs, the former president of the Catalan parliament and leader of the pro-independence Junts party. Borràs was convicted in 2023 of continuous prevarication and document falsification for irregularly splitting contracts while directing the Institution of Catalan Letters before entering politics. The sentence was commuted to avoid imprisonment. Among the other beneficiaries were cultural manager Natalio Grueso and former socialist mayor of Linares, Juan Fernández, also convicted of corruption.

Page’s criticism

The following morning, Emiliano García-Page, the socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha, broke party discipline during an interview on Cadena SER. He argued that the measure undermined public trust.

“De verdad, ahora, con la que nos está cayendo en materia de corrupción, ¿ganamos en credibilidad indultando a gente condenada por corrupción?”

Page insisted corruption should never be pardoned regardless of political affiliation, saying he made no distinction between PP, PSOE or pro-independence politicians. He described the pardon as a result of “separatist blackmail” and criticised the government for announcing it late, “in secret, when half the country was already preparing for summer holidays.” He called the timing “painful” and added that the decision came after months of internal warnings that a string of judicial scandals was eroding the PSOE’s credibility.

Double standard accusation

Paco Núñez, the PP leader in Castilla-La Mancha, seized on the remarks to accuse Page of a double standard. He pointed out that while Page loudly condemned the Borràs pardon, he remained silent on the pardon of Juan Fernández, a former socialist mayor convicted of corruption.

“Si de verdad estuviera en contra de los indultos por corrupción, los condenaría todos, sin importar el carné político del beneficiado. Lo que no puede hacer es indignarse cuando afecta a un dirigente independentista y callar cuando afecta a un alcalde socialista.”

Núñez branded Page’s criticism a “smoke screen,” arguing that the regional president regularly stages dramatic statements against Pedro Sánchez while his deputies in Congress vote in lockstep with the government. “That is the real Page, not the one trying to build a character in front of the cameras,” he said.

Climate remarks

In the same interview, Page also addressed the series of wildfires hitting Spain. He called the climate “cranky” and warned that those who relativise or deny climate change “deny human intelligence.” He described a national climate pact as unrealistic given the toxic political atmosphere, but insisted that “we must put our foot down” against denialism.