Ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said he will return to Spain, nearly seven years after organizing an illegal independence referendum in the Spanish region.

Puigdemont, 61, spent the past seven years in Belgium. He is likely to be arrested on arrival, potentially unleashing fresh turmoil in Catalonia.

"I have started the return trip from exile," Puigdemont said on his X account, adding that he intends on attending as the Catalan parliament swears in the region's new leader after May's elections, in which Puigdemont came second.

Socialist Salvador Illa is set to be appointed as the new Catalan president, ending over a decade of separatist governments.

Route to parliament unclear

It is yet unclear how Puigdemont intends on entering Spain and getting to Catalonia's regional parliament without being arrested beforehand. According to reports in Spain, police are also monitoring the sewer system for the case it will be used as an alternative route.

The Catalan separatist's supporters plan to welcome him near Barcelona's regional parliament, which could result in the 61-year-old's arrest taking place in front of reporters and bystanders.

Catalonia's current ruling party, the moderate separatist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, said it would attend the welcoming event.

Spain's ruling coalition at risk?

Junts, Puigdemont's hardline party is currently in a coalition with Spain's Socialist party. Its demand for the cancellation of legal proceedings against hundreds of separatists has been approved in Spain's parliament in May.

This, however, will not apply to an embezzlement charge against Puigdemont and two other separatists, according to Spain's Supreme Court, leaving the arrest warrant against them valid.

Puigdemont labeled his likely arrest as illegal and arbitrary.

ftm/wd (AP, Reuters)