When 12 Catalan pro-independence leaders filed into Spain’s Supreme Court in Madrid this February and sat down on its smart, burgundy-coloured benches, media and public interest in the “trial of the century,” as it has been dubbed here in Spain, could not have been higher.

The 12, including former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras, face charges including rebellion, sedition and the misuse of public funds, mostly linked to the illegal pro-independence referendum in October 2017. Rebellion alone carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.