Carles Puigdemont on a flash visit to Barcelona
Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who has been living in exile for years, defied an arrest warrant and made a brief appearance in Barcelona on Thursday after the election of the socialist, pro-union politician Salvador Illa to president of Catalonia, who had received the support of the moderate separatists. Puigdemont called on pro-independence forces to continue fighting for their cause. It remains unclear how Puigdemont evaded arrest despite a large police presence.
A frustrated independence fighter
Puigdemont is a frustrated politician, El País puts in:
“Not even Carles Puigdemont can sweep the end of the independence process under the carpet. His appearance in the centre of Barcelona, only to vanish again after a few minutes, has merely fuelled the narrative of a 'resistance'. ... Puigdemont will remain an eternally frustrated politician, because the independence crisis can no longer be solved with magic tricks. ... The proof is that [socialist] Salvador Illa is president of the government of Catalonia. ... The political normality that the PSC brings with it is the greatest milestone of the change of cycle. That this process isn't loud doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. On the contrary, it is an irrefutable symptom of its existence. ”
A hard blow to Spain's image
ABC asks why Puigdemont hasn't been arrested:
“The most worrying aspect is that everything must have happened with the complicity of the Sánchez government. Otherwise there is no explanation for the fact that the police, the Guardia Civil and the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) watched with folded arms as Puigdemont crossed the border and then launched his provocation in Barcelona with impunity. ... The only thing that is certain is that Pedro Sánchez has crossed the umpteenth red line, that our institutions are now less respected and honoured in the eyes of the world and that Puigdemont, whom before the elections Sánchez promised to bring back to Spain 'to face justice', is still on the run. The price is a deep wound to Spain's image.”
Playing his last card
The current Spanish government is Puigdemont's ally, not his opponent, Rzeczpospolita stresses:
“Humiliating Sánchez is not in Puigdemont's interest. Should the government fall and the Partido Popular team take power in alliance with the far-right Vox, he could face another prison sentence - this time not for a short period, but for decades, for treason. With his brief appearance in Barcelona, the Junts leader has probably played his last card just to show that he is still in the game. Now he will have to make a gesture of reconciliation to the Spanish prime minister.”
Living in the past
The separatist leader should recognise that times have changed, writes Patrick Illinger, correspondent in Spain for Süddeutsche Zeitung:
“The recent election has turned separatism in Catalonia into a minority issue. ... And now the [moderate separatist party] ERC has negotiated a pact with the socialist election winners, and Spain will have to pay the region of Catalonia dearly for this. Catalonia will collect and manage its own taxes. Possibly more taxes than would be collected in an independent, non-EU state of Catalonia. With this prospect, Puigdemont's attempt to rekindle the emotions of 2017 seemed almost a little dated.”