New legislature starts in Spain's Congress with political prisoners as deputies
CATALONIA
The Catalan political prisoners arrived in the Spanish
Congress this Tuesday from Soto del Real prison under guard. There's no
seating plan for the opening session of a new legislature, instead
deputies-elect take places on a first-come, first-served basis. With
places saved by their party colleagues, this meant JxCat's Jordi Sànchez, Josep Rull and Jordi Turull ended up sitting just behind the Spanish government, and ERC's Oriol Junqueras
was on the second row. The prisoners could greet and speak to fellow
deputies from a range of parties, from acting prime minister Pedro
Sánchez and outgoing foreign minister Josep Borrell to Cs' number two,
Inés Arrimadas. Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias made a point of being the
first to shake Junqueras' hand.
