BARCELONA, (Reuters) – Former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont defied an arrest warrant to appear at a rally in Barcelona on Thursday after seven years of self-imposed exile, before fleeing the scene with the help of a local police officer.
Amid a heavy police presence, Puigdemont had told a crowd of thousands of followers in the Catalan capital he aimed to revive the independence drive that plunged Spain into political crisis in 2017.
“They thought they’d be celebrating my arrest and they thought that this punishment would dissuade us,” he said. “Well, they are wrong.”
When he had finished speaking, Puigdemont got into a white car belonging to a police officer and left the vicinity, a Catalan government source said, sparking a frantic search by authorities to apprehend him.
The regional police, known as the Mossos d’Esquadra, said one of its officers had been arrested as part of its investigation into Puigdemont’s whereabouts.
The separatist leader, 61, fled to Belgium seven years ago after a failed secession bid and has been living in exile ever since.
He faces an arrest warrant for alleged embezzlement related to a 2017 independence referendum ruled illegal by the Spanish courts. Puigdemont says the vote was legal and therefore the charges linked to it have no basis.
A Mossos spokesman said there was no prior arrangement with Puigdemont for his arrest and the force had decided the detention should be made “at the most appropriate time so as not to generate public disorder.”
Puigdemont ally Laura Borras described the arrested officer on X as “a patriot and exemplary Mosso.”
The hunt for Puigdemont created traffic chaos in Barcelona and near the border with France as police set up roadblocks and searched car boots.
In Barcelona, several Puigdemont supporters clashed with police in a bid to breach the cordon surrounding the park housing the regional parliament building. Officers clad in riot gear used batons and pepper spray to deter them.
Reacting to news that Puigdemont had again absconded from under the noses of a large police deployment, a Supreme Court source said a judge had been clear in his instructions that the former Catalan president was to be arrested.
“The Mossos know that they have a detention order. The judge’s writ reminded the state security forces that the national arrest warrant for aggravated embezzlement remained active and they had the obligation to detain him and bring him before the courts.”
Two national police unions also criticised the failure to arrest Puigdemont.
“Where are the Mossos? The best-paid police force in Spain incapable of doing their job, of arresting the coup-monger and fugitive from justice Puigdemont,” police union Jusapol said on X.
Two sources with links to the Catalan government said it had identified a problem with some rogue Mossos, who appear to be loyal to Puigdemont.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the Spain’s opposition People´s Party (PP) blamed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for the situation, describing it as “an unbearable humiliation.”
“It´s unforgivable to damage Spain’s image like this,” Feijoo said on X.
A government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Puigdemont´s lawyer.