Authorities in Spain have been demanding answers after Catalan independence leader and political outlaw Carles Puigdemont successfully pulled off a disappearing act after a rally in Barcelona.
Puigdemont managed to travel from his home in exile in Belgium to Spain, speak at the rally on August 8 held near Catalonia’s regional parliament and leave the country again, despite active police attempts to find and arrest him.
Officials have demanded answers, with Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena having ordered the handover of information concerning the police operation to arrest the former Catalan leader.
As part of the order, Llarena noted that authorities had “been informed that [Puigdemont] was present yesterday in the city of Barcelona”, that “he took part in a public event in the vicinity of the Parliament of Catalonia” and that at the end of the rally “he managed to escape”.
With this in mind, he ordered details be handed to him “about the operation approved and arranged for his arrest; about the elements that determined its failure from a technical police perspective; as well as about the agents responsible for the design of the operation, those responsible for its approval, and those who were entrusted with its execution or operational deployment”.
Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police, on August 8 activated a “cage” operation lasting more than three hours to capture the region’s former president Carles Puigdemont after his long-awaited return to Spain. https://t.co/2ZzFFvxeoY
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 9, 2024
Some have already been speculating that Puigdemont’s escape may have been down to a renegade faction within the Catalonian police — known colloquially as “Mossos”.
Local news outlet El Mundo cited officials as saying that there was an “uncontrolled group” working within the force, with a number of rank-and-file officers having already been arrested in relation to Puigdemont’s escape.
Other senior officials have speculated that news of him leaving Spain may be a case of disinformation and that allies of the former president might be spreading the rumours in the hopes of getting authorities to let their guard down.
“I do not rule out that this man is in Barcelona and that his entourage is misinforming us,” said Commissioner of the Mossos, Eduardo Sallent.
Puigdemont’s pro-Catalan independence colleagues have applauded the incident, with one senior member of his Junts party, Jordi Turull, bragging that the fugitive had been in Barcelona since August 6.
Turull added that Puigdemont had considered allowing himself to be arrested, but decided against so as not to put any officers in a difficult position.
“Out of respect for the Mossos, [Puigdemont] did not want to give the image of his arrest,” Turull said, adding that police who did not want to arrest Puigdemont could have found themselves having to do so, being under official orders to apprehend Puigdemont on sight.
Spanish MEP Carles Puigdemont has threatened to withdraw his party’s support for the ruling coalition in Spain’s Parliament. https://t.co/GtVWfFvCDW
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 15, 2024
