Spain's Supreme Court has ruled the former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, can return without fear of arrest nearly a decade after going into self-imposed exile having led a failed independence bid. The court upheld a decision to lift an arrest warrant for him linked to the referendum his regional government organised in 2017, in defiance of Madrid. Direct rule was imposed on the region soon after the vote and Puigdemont fled to Belgium, where he has been based ever since - with a surprise appearance in Barcelona in 2024 prompting a police manhunt. But the Spain to which he may return is much different from a decade ago, with Catalan independence now a marginal political issue.
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