Court Rules Against Generalitat's Fine

A Girona court has annulled the €10,001 fine imposed by the Catalan government on Sílvia Orriols, leader of the far-right party Aliança Catalana, for comments she made about Islam and immigration during a 2022 television debate on 8TV. The ruling, delivered by Judge Maria del Pilar Garcia, found that the Generalitat failed to prove Orriols's statements constituted unlawful discrimination under the 2020 Law on Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination. The court determined the sanctioning resolution was overly generic and did not specify how the remarks caused harm or identify affected individuals. Orriols had argued her statements were protected under freedom of expression and political speech. The verdict, which is final and not subject to appeal, was confirmed during Aliança Catalana's municipal convention in Ripoll.

Political Backlash and Reform Efforts

The annulment comes as the PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and CUP prepare to advance a reform of the Catalan Parliament's standing rules to strengthen sanctions against hate speech. The proposed changes, registered in July 2026, aim to clearly define disciplinary measures for offensive, discriminatory or hate-inciting conduct by MPs. Under the current rules, sanctions are based on a non-binding code of conduct. The new proposal would embed penalties directly into the parliamentary regulation, giving them legal force. Penalties could range from public reprimands to fines between €600 and €12,000, depending on the severity of the offence. The move follows repeated incidents of inflammatory rhetoric in the chamber. On 28 July 2026, the parliamentary ethics committee issued public warnings to Orriols and Vox spokesperson Joan Garriga over islamophobic and offensive remarks, though no financial penalties were applied.

"We are winning one to zero. The government overreached with Sílvia Orriols and has paid for it in court. This will continue," said a source from Aliança Catalana.

The party claims the legal and political actions against it are attempts to isolate them, but argue such efforts only boost their popularity. "Every time they try to build a cordon around us, we gain two points in the polls," the source added. Aliança Catalana also criticised parliamentary president Josep Rull, accusing him of bias for allowing hostile remarks against Orriols from CUP and Comuns MPs while repeatedly cutting her off during speeches.

The original fine was issued under the Generalitat's Office for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, which opened an administrative case after Orriols described Muslim immigrants as "colonisers" and linked Islam to gender-based violence, forced marriages and anti-Western values. Despite the Generalitat's claim that the comments promoted Islamophobia and harmed community cohesion, prosecutors had previously found no criminal wrongdoing. The sanction was therefore pursued as an administrative penalty. However, the Girona court concluded that the government's case lacked sufficient legal grounding and procedural specificity to justify the fine.

Reported by lavanguardia.com, elnacional.cat, abc.es, elperiodico.com, infobae.com, laciutat.cat, elprogresivo.com, parlament.cat, Parlament de Catalunya, CENDOJ, El Confidencial.