Catalan separatist Puigdemont faces arrest as supporters cheer his return to Spain

Defying an arrest warrant against him, former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont appeared in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Thursday after seven years of self-imposed exile, as he sought to reignite a flagging independence movement.

Puigdemont spoke to a crowd of thousands of followers in the Catalan capital, who had gathered near the regional parliament, waving Catalan independence flags and holding up signs showing his face.

The politician, 61, fled to Belgium seven years ago after a failed secession bid and has been living in exile ever since. He is now likely to be detained over an outstanding arrest warrant for alleged embezzlement, which he denies.

On Wednesday, Puigdemont announced he had started his "return trip from exile", saying he remained committed to attending Thursday's session of the regional parliament, which is sitting to swear in the region's new leader following an election in May, in which Puigdemont's Junts party finished second.

"That in order to do so I would risk an arbitrary and illegal detention is evidence of the democratic anomaly that we have a duty to denounce and fight against," he said in a video posted on social media.

His arrest could delay the swearing-in of a Socialist government in Catalonia and jeopardise the national government´s fragile alliance with Junts, on which it relies for legislative support.

The building in central Barcelona housing the regional parliament was fenced off and surrounded by officers of the Catalan police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Several police vans were located nearby after radical protest group CDR called on its members to attend the gathering.

Among the crowd were top officials from Junts, including the regional parliament's speaker, Josep Rull.

RISK OF PRISON

"It represents the return of a symbol," said Xavier Vizcaino, 63, who was wrapped in an independence flag.

Given the risk of imprisonment, Vizcaino said he was unclear of Puigdemont's intentions but hoped his return would build momentum towards independence.

"I hope it is a stimulus that helps the movement recover energy and efforts," he said. "I want to believe there is a well structured plan behind his return."

Far-right Vox was set to hold a counter-protest outside the parliament. Its secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, said on X that "we will not tolerate the humiliation of seeing a criminal and fugitive from justice enter parliament".

The vote to invest Socialist Salvador Illa, who will be backed by the left-wing separatist ERC party after a bilateral deal last week, was slated to kick off at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT).

The Socialists hope taking control in Catalonia after a decade of separatist rule will turn the page on the independence drive, which has been losing support in recent years.

The Spanish parliament passed an amnesty law in May pardoning those involved in the failed 2017 secession bid, but the Supreme Court upheld arrest warrants for Puigdemont and two others who were also charged with embezzlement, ruling that the amnesty law does not apply to them.

Puigdemont insists the referendum was not illegal and so the charges linked to it have no basis.

Wearing a T-shirt and waving a flag with Puigdemont's face and the motto 'No surrender', 41-year-old Susana Masnou described his return as an act of "democratic disobedience" to make sure the amnesty law applies to him.

"He is a very brave man, with convictions, putting at risk his life to move the country forward," she said.

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