Carles Puigdemont
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2024. A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalonia from 2016 to 2017 when he was removed from office by the Spanish Government following the unilateral Catalan declaration of independence. He is co-founder of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR), leader of the Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance and founder of the Together for Catalonia party.
Some of the key events about Carles Puigdemont
- 1981Founded the local newspaper "Catalonia Today" in Girona
- 2006Elected as a member of the Parliament of Catalonia
- 2011Became Mayor of Girona, leading the city's economic and cultural development
- 2015Elected President of the Association of Municipalities for Independence
- 2015Assumed presidency of Catalonia despite lacking a parliamentary majority
- 2016Appointed as the 130th President of the Generalitat of Catalonia
- 2017Organized and held a referendum on Catalan independence
- 2017Declared Catalonia's independence from Spain
- 2017Organized an illegal independence referendum in Catalonia against Spanish constitutional court orders
- 2017Unilaterally declared Catalan independence, leading to a constitutional crisis in Spain
- 2017Fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution by Spanish authorities
- 2018Founded the Council for the Republic, a private organization promoting Catalan independence
- 2018Refused to return to Spain to face charges of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds
- 2019Elected as a Member of the European Parliament
- 2019Was barred from taking his seat in the European Parliament due to legal issues
- 2019Faced extradition proceedings in Belgium, which were later suspended
- 2021Elected as President of the Junts per Catalunya political party
- 2021Was stripped of parliamentary immunity by the European Parliament
- 2021Was arrested in Sardinia, Italy, on an international warrant before being released
- 2023Continued to live in self-imposed exile, avoiding Spanish justice system
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.