Police in Barcelona continue to hunt down former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who has returned to Spain after seven years in exile despite an arrest warrant being issued against him.
Catalan police set up roadblocks inside and outside Barcelona as part of Operation Jola, or “cage,” aimed at finding Mr Puigdemont, who was seen leaving a rally this morning in a car. The operation was reportedly over after a few hours.
For most of the past few years, he has lived in Brussels, after being charged by police in connection with a failed bid for Catalan independence in 2017.
At the time, Catalonia’s pro-independence leaders, including Mr. Puigdemont, held a referendum — which Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled illegal — and later declared the region independent. Madrid imposed direct rule on the region shortly after, and Mr. Puigdemont fled to Belgium.
On Thursday morning, Mr Puigdemont gave a brief speech to hundreds of supporters gathered near the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, shortly before the inauguration of a new president of the Catalan government.
He said he had come back “to remind you that we are still here,” adding: “Holding a referendum is not and will never be a crime.”
Mr. Puigdemont then disappeared.
Many expected him to arrive at the parliament building in time for the inauguration at 10am (0800 GMT), but he was nowhere to be seen.
A Catalan police spokesman said a police officer had been arrested on suspicion of helping Mr Puigdemont escape.
Spanish media reported that the officer likely owned the car that Puigdemont fled in after giving his speech.
A spokesman for Catalonia’s interior ministry said in a statement that roadblocks had now been set up throughout the city.
Spanish television also showed images from La Jonquera, a municipality on the border with France, where police were seen stopping cars and checking shoes.
Puigdemont’s ally Alex Sarri criticised the police operation in the city of Aix, saying: “Hundreds of police are surrounding Barcelona to arrest President Puigdemont. It’s a manhunt paid for with public money to please the powers that be in Madrid. That’s not what democracy does.”
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