Catalonia: Anti-secessionist Illa becomes new Catalan head of government

The socialist Salvador Illa has been elected Prime Minister of Catalonia. The 58-year-old rejects the secession of the wealthy region in northeastern Spain. 68 members of the regional parliament in Barcelona voted for Illa, 67 against him.

Illa had secured the support of the left-wing, moderate-separatist ERC party through, among other things, financial concessions and the promise of strengthening the Catalan language.

Spanish newspapers wrote of a historic election that would open up a new future for the troubled region. But the most attention was given to the most prominent representative of the radical separatists, Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont appeared in the center of Barcelona that morning after almost seven years in exile. Surrounded by leading politicians from his Junts party, he walked through the streets unmolested and greeted everyone in a friendly manner. The police, who were on site with strong security forces, did not intervene, although there was an arrest warrant against the 61-year-old. Puigdemont had secretly fled the country in a car after an illegal independence referendum in 2017 and the subsequent failed secession.

Puigdemont is playing cat and mouse with the police.

Puigdemont then gave a short speech in the immediate vicinity of parliament to several thousand supporters who wanted to give him an “institutional welcome”. “Today I have come here to remind you that we are still here, we are still here because we have no right to give up,” he said in a combative tone, referring to his fight for Catalonia’s independence. If necessary, he wants to enforce this independence against the will and in conflict with the central government. “We have no interest in living in a country where amnesty laws do not amnesty,” Puigdemont added. He was criticising the refusal of parts of the judiciary to apply the amnesty for separatists decided by the central parliament in Madrid to him too.

Shortly afterwards, the session for the election of Illa began in parliament. Puigdemont had repeatedly announced that he absolutely wanted to attend this session. This was his democratic right as an elected representative, he had said the day before in a video message published on the X platform. But instead of going to parliament after his speech, as the police had probably expected, he was hastily dragged backstage by his lawyer and has not been seen since. The newspapers “El País” and “La Vanguardia” reported that two police officers had been arrested as suspected aiders of the escape.

While the police, according to media reports, concentrated on preventing Puigdemont from entering parliament and even checked tunnels under the parliament building, Puigdemont apparently drove away unrecognized in a white car belonging to the police officer who was later arrested.

Police launch major manhunt for Puigdemont

When the police realized that Puigdemont had escaped, they launched a large-scale manhunt under the code name “Cage.” Roadblocks were set up on major arterial roads out of the Mediterranean metropolis. Police checked every vehicle that wanted to leave the city, as could be seen on the state TV channel RTVE. In some cases, the trunks were checked and motorcyclists had to take off their helmets. Puigdemont was even being searched for at the border with France in case he wanted to flee abroad again. Thousands of vehicles were stuck in traffic jams that were miles long in the summer heat.

The security forces responsible had prepared for all possible developments, except for another escape by Puigdemont, after he had entered Spain voluntarily, wrote “La Vanguardia” citing police sources. All members of the Catalan police unit Mossos d’Esquadra, a kind of national police force that was responsible for arresting Puigdemont, were shocked by the failure.

Arrest warrant against Puigdemont despite amnesty for separatists

The fact that there is still an arrest warrant against Puigdemont despite an amnesty law for separatists is due to the controversial interpretation of the law by the investigating judge Pablo Llarena. The amnesty law excludes cases of personal enrichment from exemption from punishment. Although Puigdemont is not accused of having pocketed public money, the judge accuses him of personal enrichment. Because Puigdemont used public funds instead of his own money for his illegal political goals in the 2017 independence referendum. This amounts to personal enrichment, the argument goes. The legal clarification of this dispute could take months.

Sharp criticism from the conservative and right-wing opposition

Illa’s party emerged as the strongest force in the early election in May. However, governing with a party that wants to lead Catalonia to independence is likely to be difficult. For Spain’s socialist head of government Pedro Sánchez, who wants to defuse the Catalonia conflict with concessions and dialogue, Illa’s election is nevertheless a significant success. However, he is also dependent on the votes of Junts in the central parliament. The conservative opposition and right-wing parties continued to protest against his policies and again accused him of leading Spain into the abyss.