Carles Puigdemont – the former leader of Catalonia who fled Spain over his role in the wealthy region’s failed independence bid in 2017 – returned to Spain on Thursday to address supporters before disappearing despite an extensive police deployment to arrest him.
Police set up roadblocks in Barcelona and other parts of Catalonia to try to find Puigdemont, who remains the subject of an arrest warrant.
On Thursday morning, Puigdemont gave a brief speech to thousands of people gathered near the Catalan regional parliament, which is expected to elect a new leader later in the day.
“Long live a free Catalonia!” he shouted as he took to the stage in Barcelona, under the watch of dozens of police officers who made no attempt to stop him.
“I came here to remember that we are still here,” he said as many in the crowd waved red, yellow and blue Catalan independence flags.
He then disappeared.
Puigdemont, 61, was expected to try to enter the parliament building for the inauguration vote, which took place without him.
Catalonia’s regional police force said it had arrested one of its officers on suspicion of helping fugitive Puigdemont escape.
The officer allegedly owns a car in which Puigdemont left the scene, according to Spanish media reports.
Around 3,500 people showed up to hear Puigdemont speak, according to Barcelona city hall.
“He is a very noble person,” said Nuria Pujol, a woman in her fifties who came from the Alt Penedes region for the event.
“(He is) the only one who believes in independence and has not stopped believing,” she told AFP.
– ‘Problem with democracy’ –
Puigdemont’s dramatic return came just days after Spain’s ruling Socialists struck a deal with the moderate Catalan separatist party ERC to make Socialist candidate Salvador Illa the next head of the Catalan regional government.
The ERC is a political rival to Puigdemont’s more hardline JxCAT separatist party.
The Socialists won the most seats in May’s Catalan regional elections, but failed to win a majority and the ERC’s support is crucial.
If a new Catalan regional government is not formed by August 26, new elections will be held in October.
Puigdemont led Catalonia’s regional government in 2017, when it pushed ahead with an independence referendum despite a court ban, followed by a short-lived declaration of independence.
He fled Spain shortly after applying for independence to avoid legal proceedings and has since lived in Belgium and, more recently, France.
Although the Spanish parliament approved an amnesty law in May for those involved in the failed secession attempt, the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that the measure would not fully apply to Puigdemont.
“A country that has an amnesty law and does not apply it has a democracy problem,” he stated in his speech.
The head of Spain’s main opposition party, the Partido Popular, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, called Puigdemont’s return and disappearance “an unbearable humiliation.”
“It is unforgivable to damage Spain’s image in this way,” he added.
– Road to independence? –
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed to the amnesty law in exchange for JxCAT’s crucial support in the national parliament for his fragile minority government.
The change sparked huge street protests organized by the right.
Sánchez now faces opposition from parts of his own Socialist party, as well as from the right, over a proposal to give Catalonia full control over taxes collected in the region.
The measure was promised to the ERC in exchange for the party’s support for Illa in Thursday’s Catalan investiture vote.
The proposal has been one of the main demands of Catalan independence parties for decades, but critics argue that it would deprive the central state of a substantial source of revenue.
It must still be approved by the Spanish national parliament.
If Illa is approved in Thursday’s investiture vote, he will be the first head of Catalonia’s regional government since 2010 who does not belong to the separatist camp.
The former Health Minister defended the tax agreement made with the ERC, saying it was “favorable for all Catalans”.
But former Socialist deputy prime minister Alfonso Guerra said the tax deal opens “a path to a federal system and independence for Catalonia.”
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