Puigdemont has said that Catalans must show their desire for independence at December 21 elections, as he launched his campaign from Belgium. However, the ex-Catalan leader might have to follow the polls from jail.
Image: picture-alliance/G.Vanden Wijngaert
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Carles Puigdemont on Saturday opened his campaign for December 21 Catalan elections from Belgium, where he is awaiting possible extradition to Spain on sedition charges after his government declared independence from Madrid on October 27.
Puigdemont, who will run at the head of the Junts per Catalunya ("All for Catalonia") grouping, called on Catalans to use the elections to make known their wish for independence.
"We Catalans demonstrated to the world that we have the capacity and the will to become an independent state. And on [December] 21, we must ratify this," he said in the Belgium town of Oostkamp.
"On December 21 we must tell Madrid, the EU and the tripartite support for direct rule that democracy in Catalonia must not be undermined. Never again in Catalonia!" he added.
Puigdemont has come before a Belgian courtImage: picture alliance/dpa/abaca/D. Aydemir
The Catalan ex-leader has been in exile in Belgium since late October, when his government declared independence from Spain in a unilateral move that has been vehemently condemned by Madrid and led to its issuing an international arrest warrant for several Catalan lawmakers, including Puigdemont.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also dissolved the Catalan parliament, imposed direct rule on the formerly semi-autonomous region and called snap elections in a bid to "restore normality" to the region.
It remains unclear whether Puigdemont will still be in Belgium when the elections take place, as he is waiting on a decision from authorities there on possible extradition to Spain, where he is wanted on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. If Belgium does decide in favor of extradition, he faces jail pending an investigation into the charges.
He had originally hoped to put up a united separatist front for the December elections, but the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party of his former Vice President Oriol Junqueras has rejected a joint ticket.
Junqueras has remained in Spain and was remanded in custody there on the same charges as Puigdemont.
Several protests against the jailings have taken placeImage: Getty Images/AFP/J. Lago
Altogether 14 Catalan lawmakers, some of whom have been jailed, are being investigated by Spanish authorities after the independence declaration. The declaration came on the heels of a banned independence referendum where some 90 percent of voters came out in favor of the split from Spain, though turnout was well below 50 percent.
Separatist parties are expected to win next month, although polls show that they might fail to achieve the parliamentary majority needed to revive the independence drive.
Catalonia's independence movement — a brief history
The desire of many Catalans to gain independence from Spain has a long history. The region has experienced varying levels of autonomy and repression over the centuries.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Rich ancient heritage
Catalonia has been settled by the Phoenicians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, who were mainly in the coastal areas of Rosas and Empuries (above). Then came the Romans, who built more settlements and infrastructure. Catalonia remained a part of the Roman Empire until it was conquered by the Visigoths in the fifth century.
Image: Caos30
Counties and independence
Catalonia was conquered by Arabs in 711 AD. The Frankish king Charlemagne stopped their advance at Tours on the Loire River and, by 759, the north of Catalonia was once again Christian. In 1137, the counties that made up Catalonia entered an alliance with the Crown of Aragon.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archiv
Autonomy and the war of succession
In the 13th century, the institutions of Catalan self-administration were created under the banner of the Generalitat de Catalunya. After the unification of the Crown of Aragon with that of Castile in 1476, Aragon was largely able to keep its autonomic institutions. However, the Catalan revolt — from 1640 to 1659 — saw parts of Catalonia ceded to present-day France.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Remembrance of defeat
After the conquest of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, by the Bourbon King Phillip V, Catalan instuitutions were dissolved and self-administration came to an end. Every year, on September 11, Catalans commemorate the end of their right to autonomy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Gene
Federal ideas in wider republic
After the abdication of King Amadeo I of Spain, the first Spanish Republic was declared in February 1873. It lasted barely a year. The supporters of the Republic were split – one group supporting the idea of a centralized republic, the others wanting a federal system. Pictured here is Francisco Pi i Maragall, a supporter of federalism and one of five presidents of the short-lived republic.
Image: picture-alliance/Prisma Archivo
Failed attempt
Catalonia sought to establish a new state within the Spanish republic, but this only served to exacerbate the differences between republicans, ultimately dividing and weakening them. In 1874, the monarchy and the House of Bourbon (led by King Alfonso XII, pictured here) took the helm.
Image: picture-alliance/Quagga Illustrations
Catalan Republic
Between 1923 — with the support of the monarchy, the army and the church — General Primo de Rivera declared a dictatorship. Catalonia became a center of opposition and resistance. After the end of the dictatorship, the politician Francesc Macia (pictured here) successfully pressed for important rights of autonomy for Catalonia.
The end of freedom
In the Second Spanish Republic, Catalan lawmakers worked on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. This was approved by the Spanish parliament in 1932. Francesc Macia was elected president of the Generalitat of Catalonia by the Catalan parliament. However, the victory of Franco at the end of the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) put an end to all that.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Loss of liberties
The Franco regime ruled with an iron rod. Political parties were banned and the Catalan language and culture were surpressed.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
New autonomy by statute
After the first parliamentary elections that followed the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Generalitat of Catalonia was provisionally restored. Under the democratic Spanish constitution of 1978, Catalonia was given a new Statute of Autonomy just a year later.
The new Statute of Autonomy recognized the autonomy of Catalonia and the importance of the Catalan language. In comparison to the 1932 statute, it was enhanced in the fields of culture and education but curtailed when it came to the realm of justice. Pictured here is Jordi Pujol, the long-time head of the government of Catalonia after the dictatorship.
Image: Jose Gayarre
Stronger self-awareness
A desire for independence has grown stronger in recent years. In 2006, Catalonia was given a new statute that broadened the Catalan government's powers. However, it lost these after a complaint by the conservative Popular Party to the Constitutional Court of Spain.
Image: Reuters/A.Gea
First referendum
A referendum on independence was already envisaged for November 9, 2014. The first question was "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" In the case of an affirmative answer, the second question was posed: "Do you want this state to be independent?" However, the Constitutional Court suspended the vote.
Image: Reuters/G. Nacarino
Clash of the titans
Since January 2016, Carles Puigdemont has been president of the Catalan government. He proceeded with the separatist course of his predecessor Artur Mas and called the new referendum for October 1, 2017. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed this as unconstitutional.
