Briefing
The former Catalan regional minister, who lives in Belgium, Toni Comín said on 8 October 2026 that he felt there was “a certain urgency” to take up his mandate in the European Parliament but gave no specific date for a return to Catalonia. Comín said he wanted to complete the necessary steps as soon as possible in order to represent the voters who elected him to the European Parliament in 2024.
According to Comín, legal and organisational considerations are significant in his personal decision. He referred to the Spanish Constitutional Court’s recent ruling or decision on the application of the amnesty law, which, in his party’s view, would make it legally easier for many politicians who went abroad in connection with the Procés to return. Neither Comín nor Junts .
gave any specific deadlines or a specific place of return. The Junts party stressed that its political mandate from voters took priority; at the same time, party representatives were working on coordinated measures for possible return scenarios. Observers see Comín’s taking up his mandate in Brussels quickly as an opportunity for Junts to make its positions more visible at European level. It remains to be formally clarified whether Comín must first travel to Madrid to deposit certain documents there or fulfil the constitutionally required undertaking before he can fully exercise his mandate.
The case is set against the backdrop of continuing debates in Spain about the practical scope of the amnesty law and the institutional procedures for taking up a mandate. Comín himself stressed that he would carefully consider legal assessments and organisational matters before planning a specific trip to Catalonia or Spain. For now, the only certainty is that he is prioritising taking up his work in the European Parliament; a specific date for his return to Catalonia remains unknown.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).