Spain scoured sewers for separatist – Politico
Exiled Catalan politician Carles Puigdemont has managed to evade authorities | Carles Puigdemont has returned after seven years in self-imposed exile to crash the vote for the new president of Spain’s Catalonia region, even as police in Barcelona tightened security to find him. ● Puigdemont was president of Catalonia in 2017 when he unilaterally declared independence. The Spanish government responded by sacking him and ordering his arrest, so he fled to Belgium. ● The Catalan parliament convened on Thursday to approve the election of Socialist Party candidate Salvador Illa, after months of negotiations with the separatist ERC party. The vote was upstaged by Puigdemont, who appeared outside the parliament before the session began and gave a five-minute televised speech. [...] His stunt outside the parliament apparently surprised both police and the media, who were under the impression he would try to enter the building. Police had blocked all but one entrance to the Parc de la Ciutadella, where the parliament is located, and checked everyone’s credentials before they could enter.