Pro-Independence Group Hangs Giant Puigdemont Banner In Madrid

Exiled former Catalan President and member of the European Parliament (EP), Carles Puigdemont holds a press conference in Brussels, Belgium after the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on his serving in EP does not have diplomatic immunity, on July 05, 2023. DURSUN AYDEMIR/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES.

MADRID — “The Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya (JNC), a youth-based political group linked to Junts, has hung a banner showing an enormous face of Carles Puigdemont on a bridge in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, right next to the Puerta d’Europa, the well-known inclined towers in the Spanish capital,” said El Nacional En.

“We persist, and we will win”, is the slogan written on the pro-independence group’s banner, which greeted Madrileños on Friday morning, together with the face of the former president, who was recently returned to the center of political and media attention by the European General Court’s rulings that confirm the withdrawal of his immunity as a member of the European Parliament, which until now has given him some protection from the arrest warrants issued by Spanish judge Pablo Llarena.

Former Catalan territorial minister Josep Rull, who served three year of prison for his role in the 2017 independence referendum, noted: “In the heart of Madrid”

L-R Junts candidates for Congress, Josep Cruset, secretary general, Jordi Turull, Congress, Miriam Nogueras, and Senate, Antoni Castella, during the campaign kick-off event for the 23J elections, in Barcelona, Spain. Junts begins the electoral campaign after the TGUE has endorsed the decision of the European Parliament to withdraw the immunity of former president Carles Puigdemont. DAVID OLLER/EUROPA PRESS VIA GETTY IMAGES.

As well as returning to the news front pages due to the EU court decision, whose ramifications will become known in detail over the days ahead, Puigdemont caused controversy at the start of the election campaign when he affirmed on Thursday that contacts linked with the Spanish Socialists had invited him to explore the possibility of surrendering to Spanish justice and obtaining a pardon along with the other pro-independence politicians imprisoned over the 1st October referendum.

 “It is [changing] not my status that will resolve the conflict, so there is no need for you to come and present me with happy endings… I am not seeking that. It doesn’t fix anything,” said Puidgemont. This was the answer that Puigdemont gave in all cases that the offer was made to him. Puigdemont considers that it was reasonable that they proposed a pardon to him because they were going to do it with the pro-independence leaders convicted by the Supreme Court. “It was believable that they did that,” said Puidgemont with emphasis.

The assertion was flatly denied by several ministers of the PSOE-led Spanish government, such as transport minister Raquel Sánchez and health minister José Miñones. Raquel Sánchez even accused the former Catalan president of “aligning himself with the PP” in the manufacture of “lies” against the PSOE.

Produced in association with El Nacional En

Edited by Judy J. Rotich and Newsdesk Manager