Catalonia's former rebel president can return to Spain, court rules

Catalonia’s former rebel president may return to Spain, court says

Spain’s Supreme Court has ruled that former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont can come back without facing arrest, nearly 10 years after he went into self-imposed exile following a failed bid for independence.

The court backed a decision to cancel an arrest warrant tied to the referendum his regional government held in 2017, in defiance of Madrid.

Direct rule was imposed on the region soon after the vote, and Puigdemont fled to Belgium, where he has lived ever since — although a surprise appearance in Barcelona in 2024 triggered a police manhunt.

But the Spain he could return to is very different from the one of a decade ago, with Catalan independence now a minor political issue.

Monday’s ruling ends a long legal dispute between the Spanish judiciary and the former Catalan president.

In 2024, Spain’s socialist government brought in a controversial amnesty for dozens of Catalan politicians and activists involved in the secession push, but the Supreme Court said Puigdemont and several of his allies should be left out.

It said this was because of accusations against them of financial crimes linked to organising the referendum.

The Constitutional Court overturned that reading earlier this month, and on Monday the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the far-right Vox party against lifting national arrest warrants for Puigdemont, as well as his former ministers Lluís Puig and Toni Comín, clearing the way for their return to Spain.

Puigdemont was elected to the European Parliament as an MEP in 2019 and to the Catalan parliament in 2024 as leader of the region’s centre-right Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party.

He had campaigned in southern France, where he held rallies attended by supporters who crossed the border to see him.

Puigdemont is known to have made at least one short return to Spain after leaving the country, speaking to a crowd of supporters in Barcelona before disappearing and getting back across the border to France before he could be arrested.

While he was living in Waterloo, Belgium, nine of his former colleagues were imprisoned for their role in the 2017 events. They were freed after the Spanish government pardoned them in 2021.

Puigdemont has stayed an active political figure, travelling around Europe to promote the Catalan independence cause and sharply criticising Spain’s democratic institutions.

In a video posted on social media just as the Supreme Court ruling was announced, Puigdemont explained why he had remained abroad.

“My role was to stir public opinion, internationalise the conflict and work from the heart of Europe to explain the reality of Spain,” he said.

It is still unclear when he may return to Spain.

Comín, his former regional health minister, plans to travel to Madrid this week, where he is due to complete administrative procedures connected to his MEP status.

The referendum triggered the country’s biggest political crisis since democracy was restored after the death of Francisco Franco.

The banned vote was met with a heavy police crackdown. The region’s separatist majority declared independence after the vote, and Madrid then dissolved parliament, dismissed its leaders and called a snap election.

But Catalan independence is now a relatively minor issue in Spain, with housing and immigration dominating the political agenda.

The parliamentary backing of Puigdemont’s JxCat party was crucial in enabling current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to form a new left-wing Spanish government after the 2023 election.

Yet within Catalonia, JxCat has been struggling, as a far-right, pro-independence party, Catalan Alliance, has taken many of its voters.

And next month, Spain’s general election could bring the far right into government for the first time.