Spain's Supreme Court clears way for Puigdemont to return without arrest

Spain's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Carles Puigdemont, the former president of the autonomous region of Catalonia, can return to Spain without fear of arrest. The court rejected an appeal by the far-right Vox party against lifting national arrest warrants for Puigdemont and his former ministers Lluís Puig and Toni Comín. The decision ends a lengthy legal dispute between the Spanish judiciary and a politician who has lived in exile since the 2017 referendum.

How it began

Catalonia's regional government held an independence referendum in 2017 in defiance of Madrid. The vote was banned and met with a heavy police crackdown. After it, the region's separatist majority declared independence, but Madrid dissolved the regional parliament, sacked its leaders, imposed direct rule and called a snap election. Puigdemont went to Belgium, where he lived in Waterloo. Nine of his former colleagues were jailed and were released in 2021 when the Spanish government pardoned them.

The amnesty question

In 2024, Spain's socialist government introduced a controversial amnesty for dozens of Catalan politicians and activists. The Supreme Court held that Puigdemont and several colleagues should be excluded because of charges of alleged financial crimes linked to staging the referendum. The Constitutional Court overruled that interpretation earlier this month.

Puigdemont was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 and to the Catalan parliament in 2024 as leader of the centre-right Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party. In 2024 he made a brief appearance in Barcelona, addressing supporters before escaping back to France as police searched for him. He has remained politically active and has fiercely criticised Spain's democratic institutions.

In a video posted on social media, he said: "My role was to stir public opinion, internationalise the conflict and work from the heart of Europe to explain the reality of Spain." It is not known when he will return. Comín plans to travel to Madrid this week to complete administrative procedures linked to his status as an MEP.

A changed political landscape

Catalan independence is now a relatively marginal issue, with housing and immigration dominating the political agenda. JxCat's parliamentary support helped Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez form a left-wing government after the 2023 election. In Catalonia itself, JxCat is losing voters to the far-right, pro-independence Catalan Alliance. Next month's general election could bring the far right into government for the first time.