The Fugitive

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Former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain Thursday after seven years of self-imposed exile, defying a pending arrest warrant and kicking off a national manhunt to apprehend him, CNBC News reported Thursday.

Puigdemont left Spain in 2017 after an unsuccessful referendum to secure independence for the Catalonia region, which Spanish officials deemed unconstitutional.

However, he made a public appearance in the regional capital of Barcelona on Thursday, where he told a crowd of supporters that holding a referendum “was not, is not, and will never be a crime.”

Despite a heavy police presence, he managed to vanish into the crowd, prompting authorities to launch “Operation Cage” to capture him. Police have set up roadblocks and are searching multiple locations, including sewers and zoos, Sky News noted.

The 61-year-old separatist leader, meanwhile, has used social media to taunt law enforcement forces, mocking the police operation and even claiming he was inside the Catalan parliament’s walls.

Puigdemont’s return coincides with the regional parliamentary session for the investiture of Salvador Illa as Catalonia’s new president. Illa’s platform secured the largest share in the Catalan elections in May, beating Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya party.

In anticipation of Puigdemont’s arrival, the regional police limited access to the Catalan parliament and deployed additional officers to secure the premises.

His reappearance also sparked criticism from some Spanish politicians, including Ignacio Garriga of the far-right Vox party, who called it “a real embarrassment and an international shame promoted and allowed by the government of the nation.”

Commentators said the former leader’s return could represent both a challenge and a potential opportunity for Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Sánchez’s ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party relies on the support of the Junts party for a parliamentary majority and the prime minister has sought to mend relations with Catalonia.

In May, the Spanish parliament narrowly passed an amnesty law that nullified charges against many separatist figures involved in the 2017 referendum.

However, the country’s supreme court ruled last month that this amnesty does not apply to an embezzlement charge against Puigdemont and upheld an arrest warrant against him.