{
  "id": 15629305,
  "title": "Catalonia’s former rebel president can return to Spain, court rules",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/catalonias-former-rebel-president-can-return-to-spain-court-rules-15629305",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T16:43:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "KahawaTungu",
    "slug": "kahawatungu",
    "url": "https://kahawatungu.com/catalonias-former-rebel-president-can-return-to-spain-court-rules/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont can return to Spain without fear of arrest, nearly a decade after leading an unsuccessful independence bid. The court lifted an arrest warrant linked to a 2017 referendum, organized by his regional government in defiance of Madrid. Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium following the vote, has been based there since then, with a surprise appearance in Barcelona in 2024 prompting a police manhunt. The Spanish judiciary and former Catalan president engaged in a lengthy legal battle, with a controversial amnesty introduced for many involved in the secession drive by Spain's socialist government in 2024. However, the Supreme Court ruled that Puigdemont and several of his colleagues should be excluded from the amnesty due to financial crime charges related to the referendum. The Constitutional Court later overruled this interpretation, leading the Supreme Court to reject an appeal from the far-right Vox party to maintain national arrest warrants for Puigdemont, his former ministers Lluís Puig and Toni Comín, and paving the way for their return to Spain. Puigdemont, a member of the European Parliament and Catalan parliament in 2024, has been an active political figure abroad, urging Catalan independence and criticizing Spain's democratic institutions.",
  "summary": "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 [...] The post Catalonia’s former rebel president can…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}