Puigdemont is safe, says Catalan party member

– President Puigdemont has asked me to announce that he is fine, safe and free. good night, writes Louis Latch who belongs to Puigdemont’s party Junts and who is president of the regional assembly of Catalonia, on X.

On Thursday, Puigdemont was back in Spain after seven years in exile in Belgium. He appeared at an event where he addressed supporters in Barcelona. Puigdemont had announced in advance that he would be present when the Catalan regional assembly was to swear in a new leader.

Police officers were present but did not appear to stop him. After a short speech in the center of the Catalan capital, Puigdemont disappeared in a waiting car.

Afterwards, the police stopped many cars in the city center and on the main motorway towards France. Two police officers have been arrested, suspected of having helped Puigdemont get away.

Puigdemont led a failed attempt to secede Catalonia from Spain in 2017. Earlier this year, Spain’s National Assembly voted to grant amnesty to Puigdemont and other Catalan separatists. But the country’s highest court decided that the amnesty cannot include charges for embezzlement. The arrest warrant against Puigdemont has thus remained.

If he is arrested, it could trigger political unrest in Spain. In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government is dependent on the support of Puigdemont’s separatist party.