- Puigdemont is out of Spain again
Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan separatist leader sought under an arrest warrant, has reportedly left Spain again after his brief visit to Barcelona, according to his lawyer. "Puigdemont is outside the Spanish state," RAC1 radio quoted lawyer Gonzalo Boye. Boye did not specify whether Puigdemont had returned to Belgium, where he spent most of his nearly seven-year exile. Puigdemont is expected to address the public soon.
Meanwhile, Spanish police have been searching for Puigdemont since Thursday, to no avail. Catalan singer and ANC civic movement leader Lluís Llach posted on the X platform that Puigdemont had asked him to say he is "healthy, safe, and above all, free." However, there's no word on where the 61-year-old is or what he aims to achieve with his latest flight.
Boye downplayed the commotion the previous evening, describing his client's return from nearly seven years of exile to Barcelona, his brief fiery speech to thousands of supporters, and his subsequent disappearance under the watch of the press and police as a normal workday. "He did his political work and went home after a job well done, like anyone else," Boye told journalists. He declined to say where Puigdemont's home is, but insisted that Puigdemont "will never surrender."
In 2017, Puigdemont fled Spain hidden in a car after an illegal independence referendum and the subsequent failed secession of Catalonia. Despite an amnesty for separatists, Puigdemont still faces an arrest warrant, accused by investigating judge Pablo Llarena of personally enriching himself in 2017, a crime not covered by the amnesty. Llarena has now requested an explanation from the police on how Puigdemont managed to escape.
The Spanish authorities are still actively searching for Carles Puigdemont, given the outstanding arrest warrant against him. Despite his lawyer's claims that Puigdemont is outside the Spanish state, his current location remains unknown.
