Despite arrest warrant

Separatist Puigdemont returns to Spain

Carles Puigdemont

(Bild: AFP)

Despite an arrest warrant in Spain, Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont announced on Wednesday that he has returned to his home country - after almost seven years in exile.

Puigdemont plans to take part in the election of a new head of government for Catalonia scheduled for Thursday. However, the 61-year-old, who lived in Belgium for a long time, may not get far in Spain. The police are waiting for him.

For the first time in decades, Salvador Illa, a socialist who firmly rejects Catalonia's independence, is standing for election. According to media reports, the police want to prevent Puigdemont from entering the parliamentary chamber and disrupting or delaying Illa's election. 

Police officers at Puigdemont's arrival in Spain

(Bild: AFP)

Puigdemont's Junts party called on X for an "institutional reception" for the "130th president of Catalonia" in the immediate vicinity of the parliament building on Thursday morning. The responsible parliamentary commission set the start of the debate on Illa's candidacy for 10 am. The vote is expected to take place later in the day.

The case of Puigdemont

The fact that Puigdemont is facing arrest despite an amnesty law is due to the controversial interpretation of the law by the judiciary. The law excludes cases of personal enrichment from amnesty. Although Puigdemont is not accused of putting public money in his own pocket, the judiciary is investigating him for personal enrichment. This is because he used public funds instead of his own money for his illegal political aims in the 2017 referendum, which is tantamount to personal enrichment.

Illa's party emerged as the strongest force in the early election in May, but needs the support of the left-wing separatist party ERC, which was achieved through concessions on financial issues and the promotion of the Catalan language. However, if there is no new government by August 25, a new election will have to be held.

The socialist leader of the Spanish minority government, Pedro Sánchez, had promised the "Catalanistas" the amnesty in order to secure their votes for his re-election in November. Should the Junts MPs withdraw their cooperation, Sánchez would have a problem.