Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont said Wednesday he is returning after seven years of self-imposed exile to Spain, where he is likely to be arrested for his role in the region’s 2017 independence push.
His arrest and potential jailing before trial could spark fresh turmoil in Catalonia and destroy Spain’s fragile Socialist-led ruling coalition that relies on Puigdemont’s hardline Junts party to pass laws.
As a condition Juntes set for his legislative support for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government, Spain’s parliament approved an amnesty law in May aimed at allowing Puigdemont’s return from Belgium by canceling legal proceedings against hundreds of separatists involved in Catalonia’s illegal 2017 referendum.
Spain’s Supreme Court said last month, however, that the amnesty should not apply to the embezzlement charges against Puigdemont and upheld the arrest warrant he faces.
Puigdemont said on Wednesday that he would keep his word and be in Barcelona on Thursday.
“I have begun my return from exile,” he said in a video posted on the X platform, adding that he intends to attend Thursday’s session that is set to name socialist Salvador Ila as the new Catalan president, Reuters reports.
