The Socialists in Spain they reached an agreement with the Catalan separatist party Junts (Together for Catalonia) to provide government support, a source familiar with the deal negotiations told Reuters today.

This agreement is expected to cause strong reactions as, in return for their support, the Catalan separatists they achieved the future adoption of a very controversial amnesty law for leaders and activists their prosecuted by the courts, in particular for their participation in the attempted secession of Catalonia in 2017.

Pedro Sanchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while a Junts spokesman declined to comment.

Asked about the deal this morning, caretaker finance minister Nadia Calvino said: “I hope we have a government as soon as possible.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his party, PSOE, are trying to form a government after July’s elections failed to produce a clear winner.

Last month, he reached an agreement to form a coalition government with the far-left platform Sumar, but many other smaller parties are still needed — which have supported him in the past — to provide him with a vote of confidence, a process that may even take place next week.

The Junts have made it clear during the negotiations that they will give their seven votes to the House in exchange for the aforementioned amnesty law.

Their possible amnesty has already drawn sharp condemnation from Sanchez’s conservative opponents, who have staged large protests and accuse him of endangering the rule of law in Spain for his own political gain.

Yesterday Wednesday, European Justice Commissioner Didier Reyders wrote to the Spanish government asking for more details on the amnesty deal being negotiated.

“Serious concerns are now being expressed about ongoing talks on the possible adoption of an amnesty law,” he said in his letter to the Minister of the Presidency of the Spanish Government, Felipe Bolaños.

“Although at the moment there is no official proposal, this has been reduced to a fairly important issue in the public debate and the Commission has been informed about it, among others by a large number of citizens”, writes the European Union Commissioner in his letter.