Carles Puigdemont has said he will tour Catalonia to reconnect with residents and decide his political future if Spanish courts allow him to return. For voters, particularly Junts supporters, a return and tour could provide his first direct indication of whether he intends to stand in the next Catalan parliamentary election.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, as reported by 3CatInfo on Sunday, the former Catalan president said that travelling through the country would be his first priority after returning.

“This is my primary intention when I return. To immerse myself in reality, to touch it again, to feel, to smell my country.”

Puigdemont said his close team had kept him informed during his years away from Catalonia, but that he needed to understand directly how the country had changed. He said he wanted, in his words, to “smell the earth”.

Return depends on court decisions

Puigdemont’s return depends on the application of Spain’s amnesty law, approved by the Spanish Cortes, Spain’s national parliament, in May 2024. The law is intended to remove criminal liability in specified cases connected with the Catalan independence process.

In mid-July, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the amnesty law did not conflict with EU law on the issues of financial interests and terrorism raised in two cases.

However, an arrest warrant issued by Spain’s Supreme Court remains in force. The Constitutional Court is due to rule in the coming weeks on Puigdemont’s appeal, and a decision finding him eligible for amnesty would require the Supreme Court to apply the measure, according to 3CatInfo.

Criticism of Sánchez and unresolved Junts demands

Puigdemont also told The Sunday Times that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez “cannot be trusted”, arguing that public commitments had not been matched by events.

Junts cites three unresolved issues: amnesty measures not yet applied to all people convicted over the independence process, the absence of official EU status for Catalan, and what it says is insufficient funding for Catalonia. Puigdemont also criticised the Spanish government’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Ceuta.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling on his appeal is the next formal step that could determine whether he can return to Catalonia and begin the proposed tour.

Primary sources: Court of Justice of the European Union. Reported by 3cat.cat, 3CatInfo Barcelona.