In political gamble, Spain's PM readies pardons for jailed Catalan separatists

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends the Cercle d'Economia conference in Barcelona, Spain, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Albert Gea

BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is poised to pardon the jailed leaders of Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, betting the time has come for a political gamble that he hopes will ultimately cement his legacy.

Opinion polls show about 60% of Spaniards - as well as all the country's main opposition parties - oppose freeing the nine politicians and activists sentenced to long terms in 2019 for their role in the chaotic and at times violent events that triggered Spain's biggest political crisis in decades.