Madrid/Copenhagen - The Catalan parliament
on Monday proposed Carles Puigdemont as candidate for president,
dealing a blow to central government efforts to derail an
independence movement that has plunged Spain into political
crisis.
As the legislature's speaker named Puigdemont as the sole
candidate for a position he was fired from in October, Spain's
legal system sought to tighten its net around him.
The state prosecutor in Madrid requested the reactivation of
a European arrest warrant to detain him on charges of sedition
and rebellion in Copenhagen, where Puigdemont touched down
earlier on Monday on his first trip away from Belgium in three
months of self-imposed exile.
He fled to Brussels in October after Spain's central
government sacked him for spearheading an independence drive
that culminated in an illegal referendum and a unilateral
declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament.
He became the top candidate to lead the region again after
regional elections last month, called by Spanish Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy, that gave secessionists a majority.
"I confirm that the only candidate that has been proposed is
Mr. Carles Puigdemont," said Roger Torrent, the newly-elected
separatist speaker at the Catalan parliament.
"I am conscious of the warnings that weigh upon him, but I
am also conscious of his absolute legitimacy to be candidate,"
said Torrent, calling for dialogue with Madrid to resolve the
situation.
Puigdemont argues he could govern the region from exile
abroad, an option that Rajoy has ruled out.
A Reuters reporter saw Puigdemont come through customs at
Copenhagen airport a little after 0700 GMT and, without being
detained, get in a car and leave.
It was not clear where Puigdemont was headed. He is billed
to appear at the University of Copenhagen at 2:00 p.m. CET (1:00
p.m. GMT) for a debate on the political situation in Catalonia.
According the Danish parliament's diary, he has also been
invited to a meeting there on Tuesday by Magni Arge, a deputy
representing the Faroe Islands, which have their own
independence movement seeking secession from Denmark.
Shortly after Puigdemont's arrival in Copenhagen, Spain's
state prosecution service said it had asked the Supreme Court to
reactivate the warrant, on charges of sedition and rebellion,
originally issued against him - and later lifted - after he fled
to Belgium.
The Danish state prosecutor declined to comment.
After weeks of uneasy calm, the political crisis triggered
by Catalonia's independence drive flared up again last week when
the new regional parliament elected Torrent as speaker at its
first sitting.
Despite that tension, Spain's borrowing costs fell to
six-week lows on Monday after credit agency Fitch upgraded its
sovereign rating to gave Spain its first "A-" grade since the
euro zone debt crisis.