Puigdemont 'might risk returning to Spain' if he wins regional election

Puigdemont, currently in exile in Belgium along with four of his ministers, had his European arrest warrant lifted, but knows that if he sets foot on Spanish soil again, he will be immediately taken into custody.

He still intends to stand for the election and considers himself still to be Catalunya's president, despite the State having taken control of the region and fired its entire government.

The problem he faces is that if he wins the election, the formal investiture ceremony has to take place in the regional Parliament of Catalunya.

“It might be worth the risk,” Puigdemont reportedly said today (Wednesday).

“You cannot be invested as president in Brussels – nor in prison. You have to be free for, at the very least, the time it takes for the investiture to be completed. But for me, the people's votes carry more weight than handcuffs and iron bars.”

Puigdemont has asked the PP, Ciudadanos and the PSOE, whom he calls 'Tripartite 155' – referring to Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, triggered by the national government to place Catalunya under State rule – whether they would honour the result of a democratic election that gives a majority to the separatists and allow him to be sworn in as president.

Before Spain sacked the government of Catalunya, the pro-independence parties held a majority and governed in coalition.

In the disputed independence referendum on October 1, a total of 42% of the eligible electorate voted, and of these, 90% opted for Catalunya to become a separate country.

Most of those who did not vote abstained because they considered the referendum illegal.

Spain's central government arrested several ministers and high-ranking regional politicians for backing or organising the referendum, saying it was in breach of the national Constitution.