Police are searching sewers and closing zoo doors after a Catalonian separatist promised to return from exile.
Carles Puigdemont announced he is heading back to Spain following seven years in exile to attend a parliamentary session on Thursday, where the next leader of Catalonia will be sworn in.
The 61-year-old would likely be arrested upon returning to Spain over his role in the region’s 2017 bid for independence, which saw Spain sack the local government after an “unconstitutional” independence referendum was held.
Regional police, the Mossos D’Esquadra said it intended to obey court orders to arrest him and will limit access to the Palace of the Catalan Parliament to ensure he does not attend.
The force has deployed additional officers and locked down Barcelona’s Ciutadella park, where parliament is located.
All but one entrance to parliament has been closed, including one to the Barcelona Zoo which surrounds the palace, Politico reports.
The building has also been searched from top to bottom – including its sewers – to ensure security.
A regional police spokesperson told Politico the measures are “standard security procedures that are carried out before any investiture ceremony”.
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Salvador Illa, from Spain’s Socialist party, is set to be Catalonia’s new governor and mark an end to decades of separatist governments.
But as the Socialist party currently is in a minority coalition and has relied on Puigdemont’s separatist Junts party for votes, arresting the former leader could spark more turmoil in the region.
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Earlier this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Spain’s parliament approved an amnesty law which cancelled legal proceedings against hundreds of separatists involved in Catalonia’s 2017 referendum.
However, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled in July that the law did not apply to an embezzlement charge against Puigdemont and upheld an arrest warrant he faces.
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