Exiled former Catalan President Puigdemont to run in upcoming regional election

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The rebellious former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, announced from France on Thursday that he will run in the upcoming regional election.

“We need to finish the work we started so that Catalonia is recognized as it deserves to be,” he said in a long speech, referring to the region’s independence from Spain.

Puigdemont fled Spain in 2017 after he led Catalonia into an illegal referendum and a botched independence attempt.

He has not touched Spanish soil in around six years over fear of being arrested.

But thanks to Spain’s new amnesty law, he is set to have his charges dropped and be allowed to return.

Under the controversial amnesty bill, passed by Spain’s parliament earlier this month but not yet by the senate, all non-violent charges against those in the Catalan separatist movement will be forgiven.

As a twist on the situation, the vote to pass the amnesty bill came the day after Catalan President Pere Aragones called a snap election for May 12 after failing to pass the 2024 budget in Catalonia.

The snap Catalan elections caught many in the Spanish government off guard.

Catalan politicians outside Aragones’ left-wing separatist ERC party also expressed their surprise over the elections.

Puigdemont belongs to the right-wing separatist party Junts per Catalunya. It did not back ERC’s 2024 budget.

While Spain’s progressive government has been trying to appease the separatists to dampen the independence drive, nationalist parties like Junts are still vowing to break away from Spain.

But polls suggest that many Catalans have become disillusioned with the independence movement. A 2024 poll by the Political and Social Science Institute of Catalonia (ICPS) found that just 39.5% of Catalans would vote “yes” to independence, while 52.5% said they would prefer to stay in Spain.

An electoral poll published Thursday by the Catalan government’s Center of Opinion Studies (CEO) suggests that the Catalan Socialist Party will win the most support. And, with a fractured government, the different separatist parties could even lose their majority.

However, Puigdemont’s return to the political scene could shake up voting intention. With his long and fiery speech that lasted over one hour on Thursday, he brought back memories of the tense days of 2017.

“I will never stop asking for unity. The times we have advanced the most are the times we have been united,” he said. “Only if we recover unity will we have a chance. For the country, there has been no benefit in going separately."

Living in Brussels, Puigdemont has been serving as a member of the European Parliament.

Another question mark is whether he will return to Spain only to be arrested. Given the fact that the senate has not passed the amnesty bill and is stalling the vote, his return could turn into a spectacle.

Last week, Puigdemont’s lawyer Gonzalo Boye told broadcaster Rac1 that the politician is ready to return to Catalonia and face arrest.