Puigdemont announces return to Spain to “finish the work” of Catalonia’s independence

Catalan separatist risks arrest as soon as he sets foot in Spain

Carles Puigdemont announced this Thursday that he will run in the regional elections in Catalonia, which take place in May. The Catalan separatist thus opens the door to a return to the country, which he left after the failed attempt to achieve the region’s independence.

With this decision, Carles Puigdemont risks being detained as soon as he returns to Spain, and, in parallel, this decision could also have consequences for the national government and for the independence movements that proliferate in Spain, and which are not limited to Catalonia.

In a speech from the French city of Elne, the Catalan separatist assured that he wants to “finish the work” started in 2017, after Catalan citizens voted in favor of a referendum for the region’s independence, something that was not accepted by the national government , especially because the Constitution prohibits it.

“Nothing I have done and decided in the last six and a half years can be understood if you don’t keep in mind, regardless of whether you share it or not, what led us to exile,” he said, criticizing a “repression” that led to exile .

“It was necessary to protect, above all, our country’s institutions”, he added, admitting that leaving Spain would have prevented him from making “uncomfortable decisions” in Spain.

Carles Puigdemont acknowledged that “all this work was not free”, with “personal costs” that the Spanish authorities wanted to apply to “weaken our convictions”.

“I can proudly tell you that, six and a half years later, all attempts to drag us down a path of giving up or humiliation have failed”, he concluded, announcing that “they have not defeated us and I am here to finish the job”.

In recent days, his party, Together for Catalonia (JxCat), has been promoting the possibility of Carles Puigdemont heading the candidacy, having himself expressed his conviction that he could be in Catalonia for the investiture debate, despite At the moment, a controversial amnesty law for Catalan separatists has not yet been approved.