Catalan independence activist Carles Puigdemont will return to Barcelona on Thursday after 7 years in exile

Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont, who has been in exile for seven years, confirmed on Wednesday 7 August his intention to return to his region on Thursday. The chosen date coincides with the inauguration of the new president of the Generalitat, the Catalan regional government, who is expected to be the socialist Salvador Illa.

“Under normal democratic conditions, it would be pointless for a member of parliament like me to announce his intention to attend the session, it would have no importance”says the man who fled Spain to escape prosecution after the failed secession attempt in 2017 in a video published on the social network X.

“But we do not live in normal democratic conditions”he continues, referring to his case and that of another pro-independence MP. Carles Puigdemont is still the subject of an arrest warrant in Spain, despite the amnesty law negotiated by Pedro Sanchez in exchange for the support of the pro-independence party Together for Catalonia for his government.

Highly criticized by the opposition, this law is at the heart of multiple legal debates and, on July 1, the Supreme Court decided that it only applied to some of the crimes charged against the independence leader, opening the way to his possible pretrial detention.