AFPSeveral roads around Barcelona have been closed for police checks
NOS News•today, 20:33•Adjusted today, 21:43
Police in Catalonia have been conducting a manhunt all day to find exiled separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who returned to Barcelona this morning after nearly seven years in exile, where he gave a short speech before driving off in a waiting car.
In the meantime, only “sporadic checks are being carried out, especially in the border area”, Spanish media report based on police reports. Puigdemont posted a message at the end of the afternoon on Instagram with the text: “We are still here, long live free Catalonia”, which could indicate that he escaped.
Police have been trying to track down Puigdemont since this morning, using roadblocks and vehicle checks. The Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s police force, are searching for Puigdemont throughout the region.
The Catalan appeared arm in arm with Josep Rull, the president of the Catalan parliament, at a rally of his supporters in the center of Barcelona at around 9:00 am. Near the parliament, in front of about 3,500 supporters, he repeated his wish for a “free and independent Catalonia”. Then he disappeared again.
Puigdemont briefly addressed his supporters:
Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont returns to Barcelona after exile
Loudspeakers on the stage called for a human corridor to escort Puigdemont and other separatist leaders to parliament. Instead, Puigdemont made his way through a tent to a white car waiting for him, surrounded by his supporters. Officers tried to stop the car but were unsuccessful.
The police pointed out that the police action was aimed at carrying out the arrest “at the most appropriate time” so as not to disturb public order.
After Puigdemont’s escape, two police officers were arrested. They are accused of helping him get away. The getaway car is said to have belonged to one of the officers. According to Catalan media, the police are also looking for a car with a Dutch license plate that was behind the getaway car and drove away at the same time. It is not clear whether the driver of that car had anything to do with it.
A photo of the two cars:
After Puigdemont’s “magical escape”, as the mayor of Barcelona called it, the police launched Operation Cage, Operation Cage. This protocol is used to carry out checks in a specific area, which can be expanded further and further.
According to police sources, the operation was at level 3 from 10am, with checks taking place across Catalonia. Additional officers were also sent to the borders with Andorra and France, and train stations and ports are being monitored.
The roadblocks were temporarily lifted around 12:30, the newspaper El País reports, but were later resumed. The road checks are also being moved around. Long traffic jams have formed in several places.
Puigdemont is wanted on a warrant from the Spanish Supreme Court, on suspicion of embezzlement along with other independence leaders. Spain has an amnesty law, which allows Catalan separatists who played a role in the 2017 independence referendum to be granted amnesty, among others. But because of the accusation of embezzlement of public funds, that does not apply to Puigdemont. He has lived in Belgium in recent years.
