Spain takes step to block Catalan leader's comeback bid

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Spain said Thursday it plans to mount a legal challenge to Carles Puigdemont's attempt to make a comeback as Catalan leader as he is wanted for his role in the region's failed independence drive.

Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium in October after the Catalan parliament declared independence, was picked as the candidate to lead the region again this week after elections in December that saw separatist parties win an absolute majority.

But how he can do this remains a mystery as he needs to be physically present in the regional parliament to be sworn in, but faces arrest for his attempt to break from Spain as soon as he comes back to the country.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy plans to "challenge in the Constitutional Court the decision by the (Catalan) parliament's speaker... in which he proposes lawmaker Carles Puigdemont as candidate for the regional presidency," Rajoy's deputy Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters.

She added Rajoy had made a preliminary request to the state council, the government's advisory body, for a report into whether this was feasible before taking the matter to the court.

Source(s): AFP