The day after his incredible reappearance in Barcelona, Catalan independence activist Carles Puigdemont was, according to his close friends, outside Spain on Friday, after heading to Belgium, a new escape that has raised questions and criticism about the measures put in place to arrest him.
“He is returning to Waterloo,” Jordi Turull, the secretary general of his party Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), assured Catalan radio Rac1 on Friday morning, adding that he did not know if he had already arrived in this Belgian city near Brussels, where he spent most of his seven years in exile.
“I do not rule out the possibility that this gentleman is still in Barcelona,” said the chief commissioner of the Catalan police, Eduard Sallent. “Until we have proof that he is outside the jurisdiction of the Mossos d’Esquadra, we will continue to look for him.”
Carles Puigdemont’s lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, had also previously declared on the same radio station that his client was “outside” Spain, assuring that Carles Puigdemont himself would speak “today or tomorrow.”
Carles Puigdemont, who fled in 2017 to escape prosecution for his role in the failed secession attempt of the wealthy northeastern region, remains the target of an arrest warrant in Spain, despite an amnesty law negotiated by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in exchange for Junts’ support for his government.
A central figure of Catalan independence, Mr Puigdemont had announced his return to Catalonia on Thursday – where he had actually been since Tuesday, according to Mr Turull – to take part in the investiture vote for the new president of the region.
He finally made do with a brief speech near Parliament in front of thousands of supporters, before slipping away discreetly, managing to thwart the police operation that was supposed to allow his arrest.
“Unqualifiable”
This new leak has since Thursday sparked an avalanche of criticism of the system put in place to try to arrest him.
As early as Thursday, voices began to be raised to question in particular the role of the Catalan police, whose actions had already been called into question at the time of the 2017 crisis, and two members of which were arrested, suspected of having helped the independence activist to flee.
On Friday, Judge Pablo Llarena, who is investigating the case that has left Carles Puigdemont still under arrest in Spain, officially requested explanations from the Interior Ministry and the Mossos, whose leaders defended their actions at length in a press conference.
“At no time […] “We have not negotiated or agreed anything with Carles Puigdemont or his entourage,” insisted Eduard Sallent, the chief commissioner of the Mossos, assuring that everything was ready to arrest the Catalan leader near the Parliament, where he ultimately never went.
“The events happened very quickly,” the police officer also said, recalling that upon his arrival, Carles Puigdemont was “surrounded by a crowd of people and authorities from this country (Catalonia, editor’s note), people who hold public office […] with the aim of obstructing police action.
Having left in a car which the Mossos quickly lost track of, he was then searched for by a large police force deployed in Barcelona and Catalonia.
“We had developed a plan in which Mr Puigdemont really wanted to participate in the investiture session, an element which, in light of our investigations and the facts that took place, has now been clearly ruled out,” the police officer added.
At the national level, the new episode in the Puigdemont saga has sparked the ire of the right-wing and far-right opposition, which has castigated the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
“What happened yesterday is unspeakable and cannot go unpunished. […] “Faced with this farce, the government cannot continue to take a vacation by making fun of the Spanish people,” declared the leader of the Popular Party (right) Alberto Nunez Feijoo on X, calling in particular for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior.