Catalan police have launched an operation to find and arrest Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont after he returned to Spain for the first time after seven years in voluntary exile. This was reported by the BBC, according to UNN.
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After arriving in the country, Puigdemont spoke to a crowd of thousands in Barcelona and then disappeared again.
Despite the fact that in 2017 the Spanish parliament passed an amnesty law pardoning those involved in the failed Catalan independence movement, the arrest warrant for Puigdemont was not withdrawn.
It is not known how and when he returned to Spain.
On Thursday, the Catalan parliament is scheduled to elect a new president of the region, which prompted Puigdemont to return.
Center-left Salvador Illia will become Catalonia's first non-separatist leader in more than a decade after the pro-independence party failed to win a majority in last May's elections.
Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police, set up roadblocks in Barcelona and at the exits of the city as part of Operation Jaula, or "cage," to find Carles Puigdemont, who was seen leaving the rally in a car in the morning.
Puigdemont left Spain after charges were brought against him related to the failed attempt to declare independence in Catalonia in 2017.
Then the pro-independence leaders of Catalonia, including Puigdemont, organized a referendum that was declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court and then declared the region's independence.
Shortly thereafter, Madrid imposed direct rule in the region, and Puigdemont fled to Belgium, where he has spent most of his time since then.
On Thursday morning, Puigdemont spoke to hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Catalan parliament building in Barcelona, shortly before the expected appointment of a new head of the Catalan government. He said he was back "to remind you that we are still here," adding: "Holding a referendum is not and will never be a crime.
Then Puigdemont disappeared. Many expected him to show up at the parliament building by 10 a.m. local time, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Police reportedly used tear gas to disperse pro-Puigdemont supporters who had gathered outside the parliament building. Ignacio Garriga of the nationally conservative Vox party, which opposes Catalan independence, said the party "will do everything necessary to have Puigdemont arrested.
The BBC notes that some Spanish commentators are surprised that the police have not been able to arrest Puigdemont, although he announced his return to Catalonia earlier this week.
On Thursday, the regional police in Catalonia announced that one of its officers had been arrested on suspicion of helping Puigdemont to escape after a speech at a rally in Barcelona. According to Spanish media reports, this officer allegedly owns the car in which the leader of the Catalan separatists left the rally.