Puigdemont reappears in Barcelona after almost 7 years on the run from justice

Dear compatriots.” These were the first words that Puigdemont uttered in his first speech after returning to Catalonia after seven years abroad. The leader of Junts reappeared publicly this Thursday just minutes before the start of the investiture debate of a socialist candidate, Salvador Illa, as president of the first legislature in which the independence movement has lost its majority since the start of the process. The former Catalan president burst into an event organised by his followers, without being arrested and after having spent almost seven years on the run from Spanish justice.

Puigdemont arrived accompanied by leaders of his pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya and made his way through his supporters, shouting “Independence,” to a stage set up in front of Barcelona’s famous Arc de Triomf, from where he addressed the audience.

After a brief speech lasting just over five minutes, the thousands of people who cheered him accompanied him on his way to the regional parliament, where the investiture session of the socialist Salvador Illa as the new autonomous president of Catalonia is scheduled.

The Catalan regional police only opened one of the entrances to the Catalan Parliament building, an entrance where Puigdemont could face arrest for embezzlement, as he will have to pass through a police filter.

This morning, the parliamentary session is scheduled in which Illa should be proclaimed president of the regional government of Catalonia with the support of the ERC republicans, former partners of Puigdemont, although the plenary session could be postponed or suspended if he is arrested.

If Puigdemont is finally arrested, it is likely that the investiture session that was due to take place this morning will be cancelled. The leader of Junts, Jordi Turull, said that if the former president could not come to Parliament, they would ask for the session to be suspended.