Exiled Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont announces return attempt to Spain
Carles Puigdemont announced his intention to attend the vote for the new regional president in the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Thursday. However, his attendance remains uncertain due to an outstanding arrest warrant.
Socialist Salvador Illa is expected to be inaugurated as the new Catalan regional president at 10.00 on Thursday. This development is unwelcome to Puigdemont, who lives in exile in Waterloo, Belgium, as the socialists oppose Catalan independence. The separatists lost their slim majority in the May elections.
"The Parliament of Catalonia has summoned all the deputies to the investiture debate of the next president of the Generalitat," Puigdemont wrote on social media. "I have to be there and I want to be there. That is why I have embarked on the return journey from exile."
Crucial votes
For a considerable time, it appeared that Illa, despite his victory, would be unable to form a government. With only 42 of the 135 seats, he lacked a majority. Thursday's vote is crucial: Illa has secured agreements with the left-wing separatists, ERC, and the radical left SUMAR. Their support would allow him to form a minority government.
In the previous government, ERC partnered with Puigdemont's party, Junts. The decision of ERC to now back a government opposed to independence is something Puigdemont finds unacceptable. Although re-elected as a member of parliament from Belgium, he faces an arrest warrant due to his 2017 unilateral declaration of independence.
Arrest warrant in effect
The legal situation surrounding Puigdemont's planned return remains complicated due to Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez's amnesty law for Catalan separatist leaders involved in the events in 2017. This law was passed on 30 May.
The decree removes punishment attached to any crime committed between 1 November 2011 and 13 November 2023 linked to the separatist process. This includes the charge of serious disobedience to authority against Puigdemont, which was dropped.
However, the Supreme Court ruled on 1 July that the amnesty law cannot be applied to the crime of embezzlement, one of the charges Puigdemont faces. His arrest warrant is, therefore, still in effect, resulting in the risk of his detainment by Catalan police if he crosses the border into Spain.
If Puigdemont is arrested, Catalan parties have voted to suspend Illa's investiture and seek a new date.
Exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont delivers a speech in France on 27 July 2024. © PHOTO IDRISS BIGOU-GILLES / AFP
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