Catalonia’s former insurgent president can return to Spain, court docket guidelines

Puigdemont was elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2019 and to the Catalan parliament in 2024 as chief of the area’s centre-right Collectively for Catalonia (JxCat) get together.

He had campaigned within the south of France, the place he held rallies attended by supporters who travelled throughout the border to see him.

Puigdemont is understood to have made at the very least one transient return to Spain since leaving the nation, addressing a crowd of supporters in Barcelona previous to disappearing and escaping again over the border to France earlier than he could possibly be detained.

Whereas he was dwelling in Waterloo, Belgium, 9 of his former colleagues have been jailed for his or her function within the occasions of 2017. They have been launched when the Spanish authorities pardoned them in 2021.

Puigdemont has remained an energetic political presence, travelling throughout Europe to espouse the Catalan independence trigger and fiercely criticising Spain’s democratic establishments.

In a video posted on social media simply because the Supreme Courtroom ruling was introduced, Puigdemont spoke of his causes for staying overseas.

“My function was to stir public opinion, internationalise the battle and work from the center of Europe to elucidate the fact of Spain,” he stated.

It’s nonetheless not identified when he may return to Spain.

Comín, his former regional minister for well being, plans to journey this week to Madrid, the place he is because of perform administrative procedures linked to his standing as an MEP.

The referendum sparked the nation’s largest political disaster since democracy was restored following the loss of life of Francisco Franco.

The banned vote was met with a heavy police crackdown. The area’s separatist majority declared independence after the vote – Madrid then dissolved parliament, sacked its leaders and referred to as a snap election.

However Catalan independence is now a comparatively marginal difficulty in Spain, with housing and immigration dominating the political agenda.

The parliamentary assist of Puigdemont’s JxCat get together was instrumental in permitting present Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to kind a brand new left-wing Spanish authorities after the 2023 election.

However inside Catalonia, JxCat has been struggling, with a far-right, pro-independence get together, Catalan Alliance, taking lots of its voters.

And subsequent month, Spain’s basic election might see the far proper enter authorities for the primary time.