Police get ready to arrest Carles Puigdemont after former Catalan separatist president vows to sneak back into Spain from self-imposed exile within hours
Sewers were being searched by Spanish police yesterday after exiled separatist leader Carles Puigdemont pledged to sneak back into the country for a vote on a new regional president.
A door linking the Catalan Parliament to Barcelona Zoo was also sealed ahead of today’s vote to prevent any elaborate attempts to breach the premises.
Mr Puigdemont has spent seven years in self-imposed exile in Belgium after his arrest was ordered following an illegal independence referendum in 2017.
But he sparked a major alert after boasting of his imminent return in a video posted on X yesterday, in which he warned: ‘I have started the return journey from exile.’
The 300-year-old Catalan Parliament building, a former arsenal, is situated in the 76-acre Parc de la Ciutadella, where the authorities have sealed off all but one entrance, with formal identification required to get through.
Barcelona is braced for the return of exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who is likely to be detained over an outstanding arrest warrant for alleged embezzlement
A journalist holds a mobile phone as he watches self-exiled former Catalan pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont announcing that he has undertaken the return journey from exile to Spain
A room-by-room sweep is being conducted of the Catalan Parliament building in Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona
A room-by-room sweep of the 300-year-old building is being conducted by officers, who are also checking the basement.
The route to the zoo, which surrounds the neoclassical building on three sides, has been shut and guarded to prevent access.
A spokesman for the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s autonomous police force, told website Politico: ‘These are standard security procedures that are carried out before any investiture ceremony.’
But he added officers would ‘evidently’ take anyone into custody who was found in the area with an outstanding arrest warrant.
Spain’s Socialist-led national government in Madrid approved an amnesty in May which cancelled legal proceedings against hundreds of separatists involved in the illegal referendum.
But the country’s Supreme Court last month ruled the law didn’t apply to an outstanding embezzlement charge against Mr Puigdemont, the former leader of the hardline Junts party.
Catalan regional police forces Mossos d'Esquadra officers and Parliament officials leave by the main entrance of the Parliament of Catalonia yesterday after a security meeting
The route connecting the parliament building to the city's zoo (pictured) has also been shut and guarded to prevent access
His arrest could spark turmoil in the region and upset the fragile coalition ruling Spain, which relies on Junts votes to pass legislation.
Mr Puigdemont would most likely appear in a street near parliament to be welcomed by supporters and capitalise on the drama of his arrest in front of bystanders and reporters.
But television talk show hosts and radio pundits have spent the last few days speculating about the 61-year-old’s return, suggesting he could wear a disguise or use a hot air balloon to land on the building’s roof.
Mr Puigdemont decided against taking part in the European elections in June so that he could stand for the Catalan presidency.
However, he came second to Socialist candidate Salvador Illa, who has made a deal to form a minority government.
He believes his presence in the city could encourage elected members to ditch the deal.
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, the moderate socialist party currently governing the region, said Mr Puigdemont’s return would be an ‘exceptional moment’.
