Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the Catalan independence movement, intends to return to Spain and continue his political career despite the threat of imprisonment.
Puigdemont is in France after participating in the organisation of the Catalan independence referendum in 2017.
Spain consists of 17 autonomous regions with the right to determine their own budget for education, health care, etc. Catalonia is demanding an extension of its autonomous status up to and including secession from Spain.
Jordi Turull, secretary general of the Junts, told broadcaster 324 on Tuesday that he would demand the leadership vote be suspended if Puigdemont is detained because “it cannot take place in normal conditions” without his presence.
According to the parliamentary speaker, the vote on the candidacy of socialist Salvador Illia, who will be backed by the left-wing separatist ERC party after last week’s bilateral deal, will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Excluded from amnesty
Spain’s parliament passed an amnesty law in May pardoning all those involved in a failed secession attempt in 2017, but the Supreme Court upheld arrest warrants for Puigdemont and two others who were also charged with embezzlement, ruling that the amnesty law did not apply to them.
A source close to Puigdemont told Reuters he had “no doubt” that the former leader, who lived in Belgium from 2017 to 2024 as a member of the European Parliament and in recent months lived in the south of France, would be arrested upon his return to Spain and face trial at the Supreme Court in Madrid.
Political analyst Toni Rodon of Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University told Reuters that Puigemont may have decided to return because of personal feelings about life in exile. Rodon also added:
The amnesty has changed the game play, and the other strategy he can pursue can be more useful inside the Spanish borders even if he ends up in jail.
On Tuesday, ERC spokeswoman Raquel Sans acknowledged that Puigdemont’s arrest could delay the vote to choose a new Catalan leader.
Police will try to arrest Puigdemont before he reaches the parliament building in Barcelona, but he has the right to go inside if necessary, newspaper El Periodico reported, citing police sources. Police are also monitoring the sewer system in case it is used for alternative routes of entry.
In 2011, then-party leader Artur Mas was forced to climb to the roof of the building by helicopter after he was surrounded by about 1,000 activists protesting budget cuts.
Puigdemont on Wednesday said on X:
Regarding the developments in Catalan politics and my return after seven years in exile, I have written this letter. The Spanish Supreme Court’s refusal to apply the amnesty law is nothing less than a hybrid coup.
