Catalonia’s separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has dreamed since childhood of Independence from Spain.
But the man who has said he is willing to go to jail over the fate of the region has now been removed from office and faces charges of “rebellion” after he and his separatist lawmakers voted to declare Catalonia an independent republic.
The 54-year-old former journalist with the shaggy brown mop of hair has become the face of the Catalan independence movement, both liked and disliked.
“Puigdemont to jail,” defenders of Spanish unity shout regularly. His secession push has prompted hundreds of companies to flee the region since October 1, when he raised the stakes by holding an independence referendum that was banned by the courts and the Central Government.
on Friday, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he had dissolved the Catalan Parliament and called regional elections on December 21 under sweeping powers approved by the Senate to stop the secessionist movement.
Rajoy said he had also formally removed Puigdemont and his executive from office as part of measures to “restore normality” after the Catalan Parliament voted to declare Independence.
So where does the determination of this married father of two girls come fromIJ In a biography published in 2016, Carles Porta, a journalist and friend of Puigdemont, describes him as an “honest and resilient” man, a dyed-in-the-wool partisan of independence.
“He has this quality (or this flaw), he’s stubborn,”
Porta wrote.
But a high-ranking critic who knows him but refused to be identified in order to speak freely, said he “does not have much preparation... To take on this big challenge”, even though he has the independence of Catalonia “in his blood, as a unique driving force”.