Spain determined to prevent Mr. Puigdemont from returning home
The Spanish government has said it will do everything it can to prevent the former Catalan leader from secretly returning to Spain.
In a statement to the Spanish press on Tuesday afternoon (January 23), Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido announced that Spanish security forces are being deployed everywhere to prevent Mr. Carles Puigdemont from secretly returning to the country, whether by air, by sea or even in the trunk of a car.
Carles Puigdemont is currently being prosecuted by the Spanish government for rebellion, secession and embezzlement. Since late October 2017, Puigdemont has been living in exile in Belgium.
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| Mr. Carles Puigdemont, President of Catalonia at the regional parliament on September 7, 2017. Photo: Reuters |
However, this nomination met with strong opposition from the Spanish government on the grounds that Mr. Puigdemont cannot be the head of the Catalan government if he is absent from the region. The key problem is that if Mr. Puigdemont returns to Spain, he will be immediately arrested because the prosecution order from October 2017 is still in effect.
This deadlock forced the Catalan Parliament to hold an open discussion on the appointment of the head of the Catalan executive government on January 31, but the format remains controversial.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government remains uncompromising, declaring that either Mr. Puigdemont will return home and surrender, or another candidate will be chosen as the leader of the Catalonia region./.
