In brief
Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont can re‑enter the country without risk of arrest, ending a long legal battle tied to the 2017 independence referendum. The decision follows the government’s 2024 amnesty for dozens of separatist politicians, which the court said should not apply to Puigdemont or his key ministers due to alleged financial crimes. The ruling also lifts Vox’s appeal to keep the national arrest warrants in place, paving the way for Puigdemont and former ministers Lluís Puig and Toni Comín to return to Spain. Although the independence movement has faded into a marginal issue, the court’s move signals a shift in Spain’s handling of separatist figures.
Spain’s Supreme Court has lifted the arrest warrant that had barred former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont from re‑entering the country for nearly a decade, ending a protracted legal saga tied to the 2017 independence referendum.
The decision follows a 2024 amnesty that pardoned dozens of separatist politicians, but the court ruled that Puigdemont, his former health minister Toni Comín and other close aides should be excluded because of alleged financial crimes linked to the referendum from 2017. Parliament’s Constitutional Court had earlier overturned the government’s interpretation, and the Supreme Court subsequently rejected a Vox‑party appeal to keep the arrest warrants in force.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium after the Spanish crackdown on the vote, where he has lived in exile while remaining a vocal critic of Madrid’s democratic institutions. He made a brief, unplanned return to Barcelona in 2024, delivering a speech that prompted a police manhunt before he fled back to France.
With Catalan independence now a marginal political issue—budget concerns and immigration dominate the national agenda—the court’s ruling is seen by some as a pragmatic move to focus on more pressing priorities while still enforcing the law against those involved in the referendum’s financial irregularities. The decision also clears the path for Puigdemont’s controversial legacy to come under new legal scrutiny and may influence Spain’s upcoming general election, where the far‑right threatens to enter government for the first time.
