BARCELONA: Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan leader who fled Spain following a failed 2017 independence attempt, made a dramatic return to his home country on Thursday after seven years in exile, despite an ongoing arrest warrant against him.
In Barcelona, Puigdemont rallied the crowd by shouting “Long live a free Catalonia!” as he took the stage near the Catalan regional parliament, where a new leader was set to be elected later that day. “I have come here to remind you that we are still here,” he declared, with many in the crowd waving Catalan independence flags in red, yellow, and blue.
Following his brief speech, Puigdemont appeared to head towards the Catalan parliament, but the assembly proceeded with an investiture vote for the new regional leader in his absence. His exact whereabouts were unclear at the time.
Nuria Pujol, a supporter who traveled from the Alt Penedes region to see Puigdemont, described him as “a very noble person” and the sole figure who continues to believe in Catalan independence.
Meanwhile, a small group of protesters, organized by the far-right party Vox, demonstrated nearby with Spanish flags and signs reading “Catalonia is Spain.”
Puigdemont’s return coincided with a crucial moment in Catalan politics: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists had recently struck a deal with the moderate separatist party ERC to install Salvador Illa, the Socialist candidate, as the new head of the Catalan regional government. This agreement was necessary as the Socialists, despite winning the most seats in May’s regional election, did not secure a majority and needed ERC’s backing. If a new government is not formed by August 26, new elections will be called for October.
Puigdemont had led Catalonia’s regional government during the 2017 independence referendum, which was conducted despite a court ban and was followed by a brief declaration of independence. After fleeing Spain to avoid prosecution, Puigdemont lived in Belgium and more recently France. Although Spain’s parliament passed an amnesty law for those involved in the failed secession, the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that this measure would not fully apply to Puigdemont.
In a video posted on social media ahead of his return, Puigdemont accused Spanish authorities of “a long persecution” and declared that this challenge must be confronted.
Sanchez’s agreement to the amnesty law was made in exchange for JxCAT’s support for his minority government, sparking significant street protests from the right. Sanchez now faces internal opposition from within his own Socialist party as well as from the right over a proposed measure to grant Catalonia full control over the taxes collected in the region.
This measure, promised to ERC in exchange for their support of Illa’s investiture, has been a long-standing demand of Catalan independence parties but has been criticized for potentially depriving the central government of significant revenue. The proposal must still be approved by Spain’s national parliament.
A similar tax system is already in place in Spain’s Basque Country, which also has an active independence movement. If Illa succeeds in the investiture vote, he will become the first head of Catalonia’s regional government from outside the separatist camp since 2010.
Illa has defended the tax agreement, emphasizing it aims to improve financing for Catalonia without harming others and maintaining solidarity. However, former Socialist deputy prime minister Alfonso Guerra has warned that this tax agreement could pave the way toward a federal system and Catalan independence.
