Politician and journalist from Catalonia, Spain (born 1962)
In this
Catalan name, the first or paternal
surname is Puigdemont and the second or maternal family name is Casamajó; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
After education in Amer and Girona, he became a journalist in 1982, writing for various local publications and becoming editor-in-chief of El Punt. He was the director of the
Catalan News Agency from 1999 to 2002 and the director of Girona's House of Culture from 2002 to 2004. Puigdemont's family were supporters of
Catalan independence and Puigdemont became involved in politics as a teenager, joining the nationalist
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), the predecessor to the
PDeCAT, in 1980. He gave up journalism to pursue a career in politics in 2006 when he was elected as a member of the
Parliament of Catalonia for the
constituency of Girona. He was elected to the Municipality Council of Girona in 2007 and in 2011 he became
Mayor of Girona. On 10 January 2016, following an agreement between the
Junts pel Sí (JxSí), an electoral alliance led by the CDC, and the
Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), the Parliament of Catalonia elected Puigdemont as the 130th[4] President of the Government of Catalonia.
Puigdemont remained in Belgium to avoid arrest if he returned to Spain, with this situation being defined as
exile by some, self-imposed exile by some others, and also as fugitive from justice.[10][11][12][13][14] On 25 March 2018, he was detained by the Autobahnpolizei (highway patrol) acting on his European Arrest Warrant in the northern German state of
Schleswig-Holstein. He was released on bail, with the state high court deciding he could not be extradited for "rebellion"[15][16][17] as German law does not coincide with Spanish law on the definition thereof, a requirement of his EAW. On 10 July 2018 a Spanish Supreme Court judge suspended him as a deputy in the Catalan parliament.[18] On 12 July 2018, a German court decided that he could be extradited back to Spain for misuse of public funds, but not for the more serious charge of rebellion.[19] Puigdemont's legal team said they would appeal any decision to extradite him.[19] Following the German court decision, on 19 July 2018, Spain dropped the
European arrest warrants against Puigdemont and other Catalan officials in self-exile.[20] He was elected as a
Member of the European Parliament after the
2019 European Parliament election in Spain. In March 2021, the
European Parliament voted to lift his parliamentary immunity.[21] On 23 September 2021, it was reported that he had been arrested by police in
Sardinia, Italy acting on a tip-off and was being asked to be transferred to Spain under the terms of a European arrest warrant.[22] After a night in prison, he was released without any precautionary measures.[23] His parliamentary immunity was restored in May 2022.[24]
Early life and family
Puigdemont was born on 29 December 1962 in
Amer, a village in the comarca of la
Selva in the
province of Girona in north-eastern
Catalonia,
Spain.[25][26] The son of Francesc Xavier Puigdemont i Oliveras, a
baker, and Francesc's wife Núria Casamajó i Ruiz, he is the second of eight brothers.[26][27] Puigdemont's maternal grandmother was
Andalusian.[28][29] Puigdemont's grandfather, who fought in the
Spanish Civil War before fleeing to France, founded the Pastisseria Puigdemont in 1928.[30][31][32] The Puigdemont family still own the bakery located in Amer's
main square.[33] Puigdemont's great-grandfather and his uncle Josep Puigdemont were mayors of Amer and were supporters of
Catalan independence, as was Puigdemont's father Xavier.[31]
Puigdemont received basic education in Amer before, aged nine, he was sent to study at the
Church-run Santa Maria del Collell
boarding school in
Girona where he was taught in
Spanish and "learned to be a fighter".[26][34] At the age of 16 he was already a reporter for the Diari de Girona newspaper, writing articles on football and other news.
After school Puigdemont joined the
University College of Girona to study
Catalanphilology but dropped out to pursue a career in journalism.[27][31][34] In 1983, aged 21, Puigdemont was involved in a car accident which left him seriously injured and with a slight scar on his face.[27][31][35] It has been suggested that this explains his
Beatle haircut but friends deny this.[27][31]
Journalism career
Puigdemont joined the El Punt, a pro-independence Catalan language newspaper, as a journalist in 1982.[26][31][35] He rose through the ranks to become the paper's
editor-in-chief.[25] He also wrote a weekly column for the Presència magazine.[25][36] He is a member of the Catalan Journalists Association.
Beginning in 1988, Puigdemont started collecting references about Catalonia in the international press, material that resulted in the publication of the 1994 book Cata... què? Catalunya vista per la premsa internacional ("Cata...what? Catalonia as seen by the foreign press").[36][37] During the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona Puigdemont was a member of an organisation supporting Catalan nationalists detained as part of "
Operation Garzón".
In the 1990s Puigdemont took a year off work to study linguistic policies elsewhere in Europe.[31] As a result, he started working on application of new technologies in the provision of news and founded the
Catalan News Agency (ACN) which was established by the
Generalitat de Catalunya in 1999.[25][31] Puigdemont also founded Catalonia Today, an English-language magazine.[25][38] Puigdemont was director of ACN until 2002, when the then-president of the Diputació de Girona, Carles Pàramo, offered him the position of director of the Girona cultural centre, the Casa de Cultura, a position he held until 2004.[36]
In June 2017 Puigdemont announced that the
Catalan independence referendum would be held on 1 October 2017.[60][61] The Catalan Parliament passed
legislation on 6 September 2017 authorising the referendum which would be binding and based on a simple majority without a minimum threshold.[62][63] The following day, the
Constitutional Court of Spain suspended the legislation, blocking the referendum.[64][65] The
Spanish government put into effect
Operation Anubis in order to disrupt the organisation of the referendum and arrested
Catalan government officials.[66][67] Despite this the referendum went ahead though it was boycotted by opponents of
secessionism[68] and turnout was only 43%.[69][70] Among those who voted 92% supported independence.[71][72] Around 900 people were injured as the
Spanish police used violence to try to prevent voting in the referendum.[73][74][75]
Puigdemont and five other Catalan ministers (
Dolors Bassa, Meritxell Borrás,
Antoni Comín,
Joaquim Forn and
Meritxell Serret) arrived in
Belgium on 30 October 2017.[85][86] According to Spanish media the group had driven to
Marseille shortly after the charges were laid before the Audiencia Nacional and from there flown to
Brussels.[87][88] Puigdemont claimed that he had gone to "the capital of Europe" to speak from a position of "freedom and safety" and that he would not return to Spain unless he was guaranteed a
fair trial.[89][90][91] Earlier Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration and Administrative Simplification
Theo Francken had stated that prospect of Puigdemont being granted
asylum was "not unrealistic".[92][93]
Move to Belgium
On 3 November 2017 a Spanish judge issued
European Arrest Warrants against Comín,
Clara Ponsatí i Obiols,
Lluís Puig, Puigdemont and Serret after they failed to attend a high court hearing in
Madrid the previous day.[94][95][96] On 5 November 2017 the five politicians, accompanied by their lawyers, surrendered to the
Belgian police, but after a ten-hour
hearing a Belgian judge released them all on bail.[97][98][99] They were ordered not to leave Belgium without permission and had to provide details of their accommodation.[100] On 5 December 2017 the
Supreme Court of Spain withdrew the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against Puigdemont and four others stating that EAW were not valid for alleged crimes committed by a wider group of people, e.g. the Catalan government.[101][102] But judge
Pablo Llarena [
ca] warned that the national
arrest warrants remain valid, meaning that the group risked arrest if they returned to Spain.[103][104]
Catalan elections
While remaining
self-exiled,[13][14] Puigdemont contested the
2017 regional election as a
Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance candidate in the
Province of Barcelona and was re-elected to Parliament.[105] At the election Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament.[106][107] After the election Puigdemont called for new unconditional talks with the Spanish government and that he was willing to meet Rajoy outside of Spain.[108][109] Rajoy rejected the offer, saying that he was only willing to speak with the leader of the Catalan government, whom he considered to be
Inés Arrimadas, leader of the unionist
Citizens, the largest single party in the Catalan Parliament.[110][111]
On 23 February 2018, Puigdemont's portrait was ordered to be removed from
Santiago Sierra's “Contemporary Spanish
Political Prisoners” exhibition in Madrid.[112]
On 1 March 2018, Puigdemont was hoping to be selected by the
Catalan Parliament as President of Catalonia again, but the Catalan Parliament heeded warnings from Spain's judiciary and postponed the session in which Puigdemont could be selected. Subsequently, Puigdemont announced that he was no longer seeking re-election as leader of Catalonia.[113][114] Later he announced the creation of a
government-in-exile organization named "Council of the Republic".[115][116]
Arrest in Germany
On 25 March 2018, while returning to Brussels from a trip to
Finland, Puigdemont was stopped in Germany near the Danish border and arrested pursuant to the European warrant that had been reissued against him two days previously.[117][118][119] On 5 April 2018, the
Oberlandesgericht (Higher State Court) in the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein ruled that Puigdemont would not be extradited on charges of rebellion, and released him on bail while deliberating about the extradition on charges of misuse of public funds.[120][121][122] According to that decision, Puigdemont was required to report to police once a week and could not leave Germany without permission of the public prosecutor.[123]
After his release, Puigdemont called on Spain's government to release Catalan separatists from imprisonment and establish a dialog with them.[124]
On 12 July 2018 the higher court in Schleswig-Holstein confirmed that Puigdemont could not be extradited by the crime of rebellion, but may still be extradited based on charges of misuse of public funds.[121] Puigdemont's legal team said they would appeal any decision to extradite him.[19] Ultimately, though, Spain dropped its European arrest warrant, ending the extradition attempt.[20] Puigdemont was once again free to travel, and chose to return to Belgium.
In January 2019 Puigdemont filed a
constitutional application for amparo directed against the president of the Catalan parliament,
Roger Torrent and the
Board of the Chamber. The complaint, presented to the
Spanish Constitutional Court, argued Puigdemont had been denied the use of his political rights as Torrent did not allow him to delegate his vote from Belgium after Puigdemont's criminal indictment and suspension of his parliamentary condition by Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena.[125]
Following the April 2019 arrest of WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange inside the
Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Puigdemont said that "Human rights, and especially freedom of expression, are under attack once again in Europe."[126]
European elections
Puigdemont was placed first on the
Lliures per Europa [
es] list for the
2019 European Parliament election in Spain and he was elected member of the European Parliament. However, he refused to attend the act of observance of the Spanish Constitution before the
Junta Electoral Central in Madrid, a requirement to acquire a certificate as a
Member of the European Parliament (MEP).[127] The consequential absence of Puigdemont and
Toni Comín in the list of certificated Spanish MEPs was communicated to them by the president of the European Parliament
Antonio Tajani through a letter; the letter also explained that, therefore, he could not address them as MEPs.[128] Puigdemont and Comín filed a request before the
General Court of the European Union asking for precautionary measures against the decision of the European Parliament, which was dismissed.[129] He spent much of the inaugural session of the European Parliament on 2 July 2019 in the German city of
Kehl, across the Rhine from the seat of the European Parliament in the city of
Strasbourg, located on French soil and avoided by Puigdemont.[130] Judge Pablo Llarena has reactivated a detention order of Puigdemont both in Europe and also reactivated an international detention order of Puigdemont in October 2019.[131]
On 20 December 2019, Puigdemont was accredited as an MEP after a ruling from the European Court of Justice said that he was permitted to take on his role as MEP.[132]
Puigdemont and Comín attended their first EP session on 13 January 2020 as non-attached members. Puigdemont first intervention dealt with a defense of the right of self-determination.[133] Both MEPs asked to join the
Greens–European Free Alliance (EU parliament party political group); co-president
Philippe Lamberts acknowledged the group considered the request a "problem" for them and, while entertaining internal debate in order to decide on the issue, Lamberts deemed the most logical outcome would be for them to join the group to which "their best Belgian friends" (the
N-VA) belong.[134] Also in January 2020, Spanish Supreme Court judge
Manuel Marchena proceeded to file an application before EP President
David Sassoli in order to revoke the immunity of Puigdemont and Comín.[135]
Later in January 2020, just hours before the scheduled internal vote among the Greens/ALE MEPs on the request filed by Puigdemont and Comín to join the Greens/ALE group, both Puigdemont and Comín withdrew their application.[136]
On 30 April 2021,
Morocco granted Puigdemont asylum. According to a source from the Moroccan foreign ministry, the decision was made in due to "the principle of reciprocity to host the Catalan independence leader" after Sahrawi President
Brahim Ghali was allowed to go to Spain to get treated for
COVID-19.[137]
Arrest in Italy
On 23 September 2021, Puigdemont was arrested at the
Alghero–Fertilia Airport by the
Italian police after getting off a flight from
Brussels.[138] The arrest took place following a
Spanish Supreme CourtEuropean Arrest Warrant issued in 2019. At a court hearing the day after his arrest, he was released without any precautionary measures, in line with the Italian prosecutor's request.[139][140] The purpose of the trip was to meet with Algheresi authorities and Sardinian separatist and at the same time to attend the Aplec International in
Adifolk which was to take place in the "Barceloneta of Sardinia" between 24 and 26 September.[141]
The announcement of the arrest prompted Puigdemont to regain a prominent role and to be at the centre of the Catalan political scene. One day after his release, during a press conference Puigdemont announced that he would attend an oral hearing scheduled to take place on 4 October in the
Sassari court, together with his lawyer
Gonzalo Boye.[138][142]
Ideology and positions
One of the founders of the youth organization of the right-of-centre
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) in the province of Girona, Puigdemont has associated himself since then with the most staunchly
pro-independence faction in the party.[143]
In 2017, he considered the European Union to be a "club of decadent and obsolescent countries" that was "controlled by a small few", also suggesting that Catalonia should be allowed to vote on its exit from the EU if Catalans wanted it.[144] Although he openly supports the EU and Euro, he has supported the idea that "we should work to change it".[145] He has rejected an EU which does not protect human rights and the right of representation.[146] He has denied being "europhobic" and he has referred to himself and his party not as
eurosceptic but as "euro-demanding".[147]
On 17 February 2022, days before the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Puigdemont did not support the package of measures designed to aid Ukraine, as issued by the European Parliament.[148] Some of Puigdemont's aides were previously reported to have links with the Kremlin,[149] including with
Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov. In September 2021 the European Parliament, which had previously lifted the parliamentary immunity of Puigdemont, launched a deeper investigation into the possible criminal implications of such contacts. No conclusive evidence has been presented.[150]
^After ECJ ruling in late 2019 on the status of
Oriol Junqueras. He initiated the proceedings to formally obtain the MEP seat in December 2019.[2] He attended his first session in January 2020.
^Heckle, Harold (10 January 2016).
"Spain: Catalonia parliament to vote for new region". Business Insider. Associated Press.
Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2019. Puigdemont was voted in as Catalonia's 130th president in a 70-63 vote, with two abstentions in the 135-seat chamber.