Sawt Falasteen - Police hunt Catalan ex-leader Puigdemont after return to Spain

Roadblocks were set up in Barcelona and across Catalonia to find the 61-year-old, who remains the target of an arrest warrant.

Puigdemont delivered a short speech to thousands gathered near the Catalan regional parliament in Barcelona, which is set to elect a new leader later in the day.

"Long live a free Catalonia!" he shouted when he climbed onto the stage, under the watch of dozens of police officers who made no attempt to detain him.

"I have come here to remind you that we are still here," he said as many in the crowd waved red, yellow and blue Catalan independence flags.

He then disappeared.

Puigdemont had been expected to try to enter the parliament building for the investiture vote, which began without him.

Catalonia's regional police said it had arrested one officer who owns the car used by Puigdemount to leave the scene.

In a statement, the force denied there was "any agreement or previous conversation" with Puigdemont's entourage, adding that officers had planned to arrest him "at the most opportune time so as not to generate public disorder".

Around 3,500 people turned out to hear Puigdemont speak, according to Barcelona city hall.

"He is a very noble person. The only one who believes in independence and has not stopped believing," Nuria Pujol, a woman in her fifties who came from the Alt Penedes region for the event, told AFP.

- 'Problem with democracy' -

Police scuffled with a small group that tried to force their way into the regional parliament, using pepper spray to disperse them. Catalan police said they arrested two people and filed charges against 15 others.

Puigdemont's return came just days after Spain's governing Socialists struck a deal with the moderate Catalan separatist ERC party to make Socialist candidate Salvador Illa the next head of the Catalan regional government.

ERC is a political rival of Puigdemont's more hardline separatist JxCAT party.

The Socialists won the most seats in the Catalan regional election in May but failed to get a majority and the support of the ERC is crucial.

If a new Catalan government is not formed by August 26, a fresh election will be held in October.

Puigdemont led the regional government in 2017, when it pushed ahead with an independence referendum despite a court ban, followed by a short-lived declaration of independence.

He fled Spain shortly after the independence bid to avoid prosecution and has since lived in Belgium and more recently France.

Spain's parliament passed an amnesty law in May for those involved in the botched secession bid, but the Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that the measure would not fully apply to Puigdemont.

"A country that has an amnesty law and does not apply it, has a problem with democracy," he said in his speech.

- 'Unbearable humiliation' -

The leader of the main opposition Popular Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, called Puigdemont’s return to Spain an “unbearable humiliation” that damages the country’s image.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez agreed to the amnesty in exchange for JxCAT's crucial support in the national parliament for his fragile minority government.

The move sparked huge street protests that were organised by the right wing.

Sanchez is now facing opposition from parts of his own Socialist party as well as the right over a proposal to give Catalonia full control of taxes collected in the region.

The measure was promised to the ERC in exchange for the party's support for Illa in the investiture vote.

The proposal has for decades been one of the main demands of Catalan independence parties but critics argue it would deprive the central state of substantial revenue.

It must still be approved by Spain's national parliament.

If Illa passes the investiture vote, he will be the first head of Catalonia's regional government since 2010 who does not come from the separatist camp.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST