Exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont can return to Spain after a Supreme Court judge lifted the arrest warrant against him, weeks before the country’s snap general election.
Judge Pablo Llarena lifted the warrant on Tuesday after Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled that a 2024 amnesty law could cover the embezzlement offence for which Puigdemont had been prosecuted.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium after Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid and had remained outside Spain to avoid arrest.
The former Catalan regional president led the campaign for the banned independence referendum and subsequent attempt to break away from Spain. He was accused of using public funds to organise the referendum.
The amnesty law was introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government as part of an effort to ease tensions with Catalan separatists. About 400 people involved in the independence movement have benefited from the measure.
Puigdemont, however, had previously been excluded after the Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty did not cover those investigated for embezzlement.
The latest ruling could have major political implications ahead of Spain’s snap election on November 29.
Sánchez called the election on Monday after his minority government suffered a defeat over housing relief measures, with Puigdemont’s Junts party voting against the proposals.
Junts had withdrawn its support for Sánchez after accusing him of failing to honour commitments, including extending the amnesty to its leader.
The party’s support had previously been crucial to Sánchez remaining in power after the 2023 election failed to produce a clear majority.
Puigdemont’s possible return is therefore set to bring the Catalan independence issue back to the centre of Spain’s political debate ahead of the election.
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