Salvador Illa is the current president of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. Photo: Josep Lago / AFP Spanish police are looking for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who has returned to Spain after seven years in exile. The police operation was launched on Thursday morning after reports that Puigdemont was to be present when Salvador Illa is installed as Catalonia’s new regional leader. He appeared in a gathering of supporters outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, but quickly disappeared into the crowd after addressing the crowd. According to the newspaper El País, there must have been approximately 300 police officers present. Nevertheless, Puigdemont got away unnoticed. – I have come here to remind you that we are still here, he said from the podium. Puigdemont disappeared as quickly as he appeared. Police are still looking. Photo: Nacho Doce / Reuters Active search Roadblocks have been set up and a police helicopter is said to have been mobilized to help with the search. According to The Guardian, the police stop all vehicles crossing the border from Northern Catalonia to France. A police agent has been arrested, suspected of helping Puigdemont escape from the police. The car Puigdemont disappeared in must have been registered to this agent. All vehicles heading towards France through Northern Catalonia’s border will be stopped. Photo: Manaure Quintero / AFP Several public figures in Spanish politics have expressed dissatisfaction with the police’s efforts to catch Puigdemont on social media. The leader of the conservative Partido Popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has called it all “an incomprehensible humiliation”. – It is painful to see this madness unfold live, he writes on X. The separatist Carles Puigdemont is a former journalist and politician, who from 2016 to 2017 was president of the Catalan self-governing institution Generalitat de Catalunya. He was ousted by the Spanish government after holding an illegal referendum on Catalonia’s independence. An arrest warrant was issued for Puigdemont for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds that have been used to pursue Catalan independence. He has since lived in exile in Belgium. Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has offered amnesty to those who have lived in exile as a result of the referendum. The Supreme Court in Spain, on the other hand, will not grant amnesty to Puigdemont, as he is accused of embezzlement. Published 08/08/2024, at 16.50
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Was in exile for seven years – Catalan separatist leader is back in Spain – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
